


Angulus Humanaes

by bladeoftheshadows11



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-02-21 21:56:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2483804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bladeoftheshadows11/pseuds/bladeoftheshadows11
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brandon's your everyday, typical jock. The 'Star Quarterback'. The one dating the hot head-cheerleader. The one with the awesome best friend he's known since they were kids. Except, you know, he's part shadow demon. And he has one of the most dangerous creatures on Earth after his ass. The creature's name is Rhao, and he is a Angulus Humanaes. A Human Angel. Brandon finds out a lot about himself and those around him that he would rather not know, and Rhao is the center of his problems. Number one problem? He was falling in love with the fucking cocky bastard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preface

Angulus Humanaes…Human Angels…   

In today’s society, year 2050, fiction is reality and whatever previous written in history has been rewritten to integrate the history of the others. Those who aren’t human. Calling them ‘supernatural’ like before is inaccurate. Technically, humans are the supernatural ones, in a way. Seems like humans actually went  _reverse_ in the evolution thing. Humans are the weak link. No other race wanted anything to do with humans, hence the lack of knowledge. And yet, humans persevere; learning everything possible about the other races and how to avoid getting killed.

Vampires. Pale skin, red eyes, fangs. Only come out at night…sunlight doesn’t burn them, but they have really sensitive eyes and skin.  Feed but don’t kill policy among the more civilized ones. Extremely fast, and extremely strong. Strong telepathic and persuasion abilities. Have one inch fangs and nails as hard as diamonds. Have a collagen in their fangs that brings the victim extreme pleasure, kind of distracting them from the fact that their blood is being sucked straight from the vein. Either don’t go out at night or carry a stake if you do…unless you’re a fang-banger. They don’t like strong scents, or sorcerers.

Werewolves. Really big, and really hairy. Generally harmless, except for their bad temper. Only change into a wolf once a month and even then they stick to more…grassy and foliage dominant areas. In their humans forms, however, most are pretty friendly. Have canine like tendencies in their human form. Eat only raw meat.  Extremely strong, but not that fast in their human forms, except when they’re angry. Try not to piss one off. Their bites, human or wolf form, are extremely painful and very contagious. Allergic to pure metals, straight off the periodic table. Not very fond of strong smells.

Sorcerers.  Tend to have electric blue or purple eyes. Carry tribal tattoos either on their face or along their arms or both. Contrary to belief, they don’t have staffs, or wands, or any of the like. Extremely fast; strong psychic abilities; the strongest have strong telekinesis  _and_ telepathy, but all of them have either or. Have necromancy abilities. Capable of stopping your heart with a clench of their hand, but have a certain soft spot for humans. Try not to piss one off. Don’t try to spout anything religious to them; they’re all antichrists.  

Shape-shifters. Gold, amber, or hazel eyes. Gold skin. Golden-light brown hair, always worn long. Extremely strong, and extremely fast. Can shift into anything and everything. The stronger one is, the longer their hair is. They’re weak, ability wise, except for when they shift. Yes, they can shift into unicorns. And rhinoceroses or anything angry and with a pointy head, so try not to piss them off either. But majority of them are human-lovers anyway. Doesn’t like werewolves. 

Shadow demons. Obsidian black eyes and jet black hair. All of them have a curling, spikey tattoo on their face, starting from the outer corner of their eyes and ending at their collarbone. All of them have a husky, raspy voice that send shivers of pleasure through your body with each syllable. They have one inch fangs and diamond hard nails, just like vampires, but no relation. Very distant relations to the incubi and succubae, however. Very distant. Extremely strong and stupidly extreme speed. Can control shadows, obviously, but it goes beyond making little shadow puppets. The shadows can touch you, restrain you, do things to you. They can travel through shadows.  They can choke you by sending shadows into your lung. But they’re pretty docile. They could care less about humans, or any other race for that matter. Just try not to piss one off. And don’t talk to them about the incubi and succubae or vampires.   

The incubi and succubae. Sex demons. Females were the succubae and males were the incubi. You’ll know one when you see one. Just…avoid them completely. Extremely fast and extremely strong. Strong powers of persuasion and telepathy, and they can send of strong pheromones. They can weave powerful spells. They can appear in your dreams, and from there be whatever you want them to be. They don’t care; they just want your energy. That’s how they survive. They fuck anything that’s living, breathing, and humanoid and they can’t get STDs. So pretty much, they have no preferences, or any racism. Remember, avoid them…and carry a cross, if you’re religious, that is. Doesn’t really work if you’re not. And try not to be a virgin, they love virgins.   

And lastly. Angulus Humanaes. Human Angels. Their looks are diverse. Their hair color can range from normal dark brown to electric yellow, or blue, or green. Same with their eyes. They have normal skin color shades. Out of all the supernaturals, they are the most dangerous, and the least known about. No race likes them; every race is afraid of them. Between all the races, there are only four truly known facts about them…

One: they have pure white wings; the tips change color depending on their mood and become as hard as steel when angered or in danger, or soft as clouds when with their mate, or are otherwise the same as any feathers. Two: they have mates. Human mates. The mate of a AH gains immortality to live with their AH. Three: they have immortality. Seriously, there’s no way to kill them, or anything that could possibly weaken them. They’re like Superman without kryptonite…and less issues. That we know of anyway. And four: they have low birth rates. It’s suspected that they are extremely fast, and extremely strong, but no one knows. No one knows anything concrete about them. Except that they’re dangerous. There is no record of anyone who is not the mate of an AH confronting one and surviving.

 

Until now.


	2. Denial is NOT a River in Egypt

“Alright, settle down, students. Settle down.”

“Go to hell, Bradford!” Someone in the crowd yelled.

Principal Bradford, from his spot at the podium on the stage, squinted into the crowd in the direction where the voice came from. It wasn’t me, of course. I have an easily distinctive voice, so doing things like that was a no go. I wish I could though.  

Beside me, my girlfriend Tiffany sighed, flipped her hair, crossed her legs, and popped her gum. A sign…or multiple signs, rather, that she was irritated. She leaned into me, obviously pressing her boobs into my arm, and looked up at me with what I guess was supposed to be a pouty look. She looked like a duck. I wanted to quack at her. I kicked my backpack, which was on the floor, instead. It was purple, ‘cause purple’s my favorite color.

“Bran _-don.”_ She whined. “Why’d we come here? You know Bradford never says anything interesting at assemblies. We could be doing something more…” She ran her perfectly manicured, perfectly tanned hand up my thigh and her voice dropped an octave. Her attempt at a sexy voice. “… _productive.”_

I gently removed her hand from my thigh, twining our fingers together so that she didn’t just do it again, and ignored the flash in her eyes. “I thought we agreed to chill out on the sexy time and focus on the romance-y time.”

She huffed and pulled away, popping her gum loudly. “That was a month ago, Brandon.”

“And we’ve only gone on one date.  _All_ summer. You’re always ‘busy’.” I made air quotations.

A look passed over her face and she straightened, preparing to tell me off when Bradford returned to the microphone after finding the kid who cursed him to hell. He tapped the mic and it screeched, shutting up everyone who was talking.

Principal Bradford wasn’t a bad-looking guy at the old age of fifty-something. He used to be running back for his team in high school, got a scholarship for it in college and everything, and he could’ve went pro but he busted his knee cap. He still maintained his athlete’s build; tall with broad shoulders, a lean upper body, and strong legs. Even though he was fifty something, he still had a head full of thick, dark brown hair. And he didn’t have that many wrinkles; just a few laugh lines around his mouth. He was a fun, but strict principal. He would’ve been well liked, if it wasn’t for his crazy ideas that he always guinea pigged on us. 

“Thank you.” He cleared his throat. “Welcome back from a great summer, students. And for those of you who are freshman, welcome to Millerton High. As you all know, we are one of the few schools not integrated with one of the non-human races. Mainly due to our lack of proper classes or teachers for subjects required for those non-human races. But, during this lovely summer break, a council of the staff of this school and the School Board members was held and we have come to a decision to change that.” He paused as a low murmur spread through the crowd.

I leaned back in my seat and glanced at Rick, my best friend since forever. He was already looking at me with wide eyes. The murmurs grew and he leaned towards me to speak in my ear.

“Dude, another one of Bradford’s crazy ideas. I don’t really mind merging with some of the other races, but those incubi…” He stopped and we both shuddered.

Once, during last summer, we went to a party and got totally crashed. Usually, once crashed, any attempts at remembering what happened the rest of the night are in vain. But that night, we remembered everything.  

We usually didn’t let ourselves drink so much, but I’d just had another fight with Tiffany over something stupid and my mood was shitty. Rick, in an attempt to console me, suggested we go to a party his neighbor was having and get smashed. This neighbor in particular was a senior that year and wanted to go all out before he went to college. And when I say all out…I mean all out. He invited other races, as many as he could find. At first, we didn’t notice because we immediately went for the booze, but after a bottle of beer and a shot of vodka we began to notice things.

The party seemed a bit more…intense than usual. Sexually intense, anyway. The incubi and succubae never miss a good party, or rather, good potentially drunk humans who are all the more easier to seduce and fuck. Me and Rick never had the best of luck, and that night…well, we happened to get targeted by the—coincidentally—strongest incubus in the whole fucking house.  _Both_ of us. We were pretty trashed by the time he found us, and it took nothing at all for him to lead us upstairs into one of the empty bedrooms…I’m assuming  you can guess the rest.

Fortunately, the incubus had no interest in butt fucking me. Unfortunately, he did want me to suck his cock. Something about having a ‘strong looking jaw’. Also unfortunately, he did have interest in butt fucking Rick…we made a pact the next morning to never speak about it again, but since then Rick’s had a terrible phobia of sex demons.

“…Vampires wouldn’t come, because they have their special night schools.” He was saying to me. “And werewolves wouldn’t come because we’re too far from any forest or the like…that pretty much leaves sorcerers…shape-shifters…and, oh shit, shadow demons.” He grabbed my arm. “Dude, how cool would that be? You’d probably confuse the hell out of them, though.”

Yeah, about that. I’m part shadow demon. Like, my great-great-great grandmother was one. My mom has a picture of her; we look alike, sort of. My eyes weren’t black, but they were a seriously dark, dark blue—nearly black—and had the same almond shape as hers, just barely tilted at the corners. And I had her jet black hair. My mom was a blonde, as were my older sister and little brother, and my dad had light brown hair, as did my little sister. I used to think I was adopted, until my mom showed me my birth certificate and the picture of my great-great-great grandmother. The blood was so diluted, though, that I was practically human. She was alive, somewhere, but I was pretty sure that she didn’t want anything to do with her human great-great-great grandson. I had no shadow demon distinctions except my two moles near the corner of my right eye and my voice. Shadow demons have weird voices, kind of deep and husky and thick, no matter the gender, and I carried the same rasp in my voice. It was a bit unnerving to hear my voice when it’s recorded.  Rick’s the only one who knows about it; no one ever really guessed that I had any demon relations since my blood came out human positive.

“Yeah, I know. It’ll probably be sorcerers, though, because they’re easier to assimilate into our school classes. They only need a class for their spells, right?”

Rick nodded. “Yeah, I think so. And they need a history class, for their history.”

I was about to say something when Bradford continued. “Now, I’m sure many of you will have qualms about the race chosen to integrate within our school, but please try to remember to stay open minded and not assume so much about this particular race—.”

Rick paled. “Aw, man. It’s the incubi and succubae.”

“They really aren’t as dangerous as believed and I hope as a school, we can grow to accept them as they are.” The curtains behind him began to open. “We will start with a small number of students, to see how well interaction goes, and will continue to increase numbers if everything goes as well as I hope.” The first set of gasps went around the room. I was in shock. “Now, I know you will have questions—.”

A wing shifted and a girl in the crowd screamed, running out of the auditorium. Everyone was too much in shock to care or go after her. Tiffany grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my skin. I swallowed and glanced at Rick, who was still pale with his mouth gaping open. He looked back me and I gave him a shaky smile.

“Well…they aren’t incubi.” He blinked and nodded, turning back to gap at the new students.

They weren’t incubi, or sorcerers, or shape-shifters, or shadow demons, or werewolves, or vampires. Nope. They were something that I, growing up, thought to be a myth—as ironic and hypocritical as that sounds. Something no one living, of any of the races, ever saw. Something so unknown, so feared, that even uttering their name could make someone wet their pants.

Angulus Humanaes. Eight of them, on the stage; four guys, four girls. All with wings. Only Angulus Humanaes had wings, no other race did, so that’s what they had to be. Their white wings glowed slightly, giving them a look so…ethereal, so different. I could only stare at all of them, unable to take my eyes off. I felt like I had to capture every detail, like this chance was evanescent, never to happen again. Bradford began to introduce them, starting on the left.  

On the far left was a girl with rich dark brown skin, making her wings seem even brighter. Her hair was a dark blue, nearly as dark as my eyes, and fell in thick waves down her back, almost to her waist. Her eyes were a minty green, glinting delicately in the light. She had a body every girl on the cheerleading team dieted and fussed over having; her muscles daintily defined through her white uniform button down. Bradford introduced her as Amerasu Pryra.

The girl beside her had the same build, but was a bit taller. Her skin was golden, literally. She looked like she was made of gold. Her hair was deep brown, highlights of red and blonde running through it. She wore it short in the back and with bangs in the front. Her eyes were shaped like a cat’s and were a russet color. Her wings were a bit bigger than Amerasu’s, because of her height, and she flared them proudly behind her. Her name was Mirimele Slufin.

Another girl, with pale, pale, pale skin and long, bright red hair. Literally,  _red._ Like, lollipop cherry red. Her eyes were huge and electric blue, like that one glimpse of lighting you get during a storm, illuminating everything in a bluish white light. She was shorter than both Mirimele and Amerasu’s; her wings also smaller. She was actually the shortest one. Her name was Beni Herst.

The tallest of all the girls had huge wings that she flared out behind her. She was marble pale. Her shoulder-length hair was black with choppy bangs and her eyes were bright silver, brought out by her dark eyeliner. The girls on either side of her kept their distance. She radiated ‘head bitch in charge’ aura. Visara Sith.

Everyone was silent the whole time, no one even commenting on their weird names. Then Bradford began to introduce the guys. All of them were tall and buff.

Next to Visara was Hunen Isaake. He looked like he could be a linebacker. His hair was a deep burgundy and worn a bit shaggy, reaching an inch or so past his chin. His eyes were narrow and nearly white. It was eerie, and his dark tan skin only made it worse. 

Then it was Lin Nuga. He and Hunen were clearly friends. They were laughing about something on stage. Lin had short green-blue hair and bright, dark grey eyes. It matched nicely with his pale skin. He looked like a nice guy, to me.

Eoin Inah looked pretty loner-ish. He stood to the side with his hands in his pockets, looking up at the ceiling with bright red eyes and his long hair falling down his back like a waterfall of liquid silver. He kept his wings folded tightly against his back, unlike the others, and his skin was as pale as Beni’s.

The tallest of the guys, the one with the biggest wings…Rhao Y’mei. His skin was pale, but…it had this weird golden sheen to it. And his wings weren’t pure white like the others; they had a faint gold-ish tint to them. His eyes were narrow and tilted at the corners, and pale, pale purple, like lavender. His hair was a dark, dark, dark inky purple, almost black. He radiated dominance, control, power. He was clearly the leader.

As Bradford began explaining the reason why they were here and why they were chosen in particular, I couldn’t stop staring at Rhao. It was weird. I felt this thumping in my chest, like my heart was beating overtime. He was looking in the crowd for something, his brow a bit furrowed. I wonder what he could’ve possibly been looking for. At that moment, he turned and locked eyes with me. My eyes widened and my lips parted in a silent gasp. As he held my gaze, his lips slowly tilted up in a smirk, his eyes narrowing the slightest bit with the action.

I blinked and leaned back as he mouthed something. My brow furrowed and I tilted my head to the side in confusion. He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets, leaning forward a bit. He mouthed the words again, this time slowly and with more enunciation. I blinked, a faint blush heating my cheeks, and looked away with a scowl. Rick was staring…drooling at the girls. Useless bastard. Tiffany was ogling the guys. The bitch. I swallowed, sweat forming on my palms. His words played through my head; even though he didn’t voice them, I heard them loud and clear. 

 

_‘You’re mine.’_


	3. Inhuman Kisses

“Now,” Ms. Belle began. She’s my homeroom teacher. Four of the Angulus Humanaes stood beside her, two guys and two girls. Rhao, Hunen, Beni, and Visara. “You all heard what Mr. Bradford said and I expect you all to accept the Angulus Humanaes as you would any other student.” She waved a hand towards them. “As you can see, they aren’t as dangerous as previously thought, but please keep in mind that they _are_ stronger than you. They have rules just as we do to ensure everyone’s safety, but the self-defense policy also applies to them while they attend this school. Be respectful and keep your hands to yourself.”

Someone raised their hand. “Question. Will they have _all_ the same classes as we do?”

Ms. Belle nodded. “Majority of your classes will be shared with the exception of history and two other classes exclusive to them.” She glanced at the clock. “Does anyone have any questions for them?”

The same person raised their hand. I looked to see who it was; the school snobby bookworm, Miranda Stewart. “Do you guys eat humans?”

Rhao snorted while Hunen laughed outright; Visara glared and Beni stifled a giggle behind her hand. Rhao stepped forward and leaned towards Miranda.

“Do _you_ want to be eaten?” The way he said it implied something else and she blushed, along with Ms. Belle and half the class. Rhao leaned back and scanned the crowd, his gaze lingering on me for a moment. “Any more questions?”

No one raised their hand and for a moment an awkward silence permitted the room. Ms. Belle cleared her throat and clapped her hands together, breaking the silence.

“Alright then! The bell’s about to ring. Anyone want to volunteer to show the new students around? One for each student, to make it easier.” She looked around. Aw, man. I know she’s going to pick me. I always get picked. That’s what happens when you’re the star quarterback of the school. “Miranda, why don’t you take Visara. Jackie, you take Beni. Rick, take Hunen. Aaaanddd…” Her eyes landed on me and she smiled. Shit. “The star of the school can take Rhao.”

Dammit, I hated it when people called me that. I could care less on how well I played, but it made me seem like an asshole when people called me that. Rhao’s purple eyes met mine and he smirked, eyes again narrowing. Rick shoved my shoulder, making me looking away from Rhao to him.

“Dude, how’re we supposed to show them around when we don’t know what classes they have?”

I sighed. He could be so stupid sometimes. “Schedules, Rick. The schedules.”

He blinked. “Oh. Oh, yeah huh? Makes sense.” Suddenly, he scowled. “Hey, how’re we supposed to get to class on time if we have to take them to their class?”

I looked at him incredulously. “Dude, we have five minutes to get to class, and last I checked, this school wasn’t that big.”

”Yeah, but…I walk slow.”  

I rolled my eyes. Fastest runner on the team, and he was complaining about walking to class. The bell rung and I stood, swinging my backpack over my shoulder. Me, Rick, and the other ‘volunteers’ had to wait until the class emptied to approach the new ‘students’. I swallowed hard when Rhao turned to me, that infuriating smirk still in place. Beside me, Rick strode forward to Hunen, a big smile on his face. Ever the friendly one, my friend was.

“ _Dude.”_ He reached out and smacked hands with the Angulus. “Name’s Rick; nice to meet’cha. We’d better get going, the teachers ‘round here are bitchy about being on time.”

Hunen made a sound of agreement, glancing at Rhao, before following Rick out the door. The others did the same, quickly leaving in favor of getting to class on time. Gotta make good impressions on the first day, I guess. The only one who hesitated was Visara, locking gazes with Rhao. Some weird telepathy passed between them and she nodded, glancing at me with a glare before swiftly leaving. I grit my teeth and turned back to Rhao; he smirked at me again.

“Ready then?” I nodded and we left. He pulled out his schedule as we began down the hall, looking it over. “I have…physics first.” I must’ve made some noise because he looked up at me. “What? Do you have that class too?”

I nodded and clenched my hand tighter around my backpack strap. The hall was emptying quickly; Rick wasn’t lying when he said that the teachers were bitchy about coming to class on time. Rhao stuffed both hands into his pockets, along with his schedule, and walked silently for a second. Our school wasn’t really that big, but physics was on the other side of the building. I already had my book because it was the sensible thing to do; my class was on the other side of the building and going to the opposite end where the lockers were at was wasting time. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rhao glance at me.

“Not very talkative are you?”

I shook my head. I didn’t like to talk much, and when I did, it was usually when I had to, or to my friends. I wasn’t one for unnecessary things…except for when my father expected something from me. Then I had to be a try-hard. I hate being a try-hard. I already had to get the best grades, and be the star quarterback, and be the most wanted guy in the school; anymore and my head would bust. Sometimes I wished that I could be one of those kids that no one really noticed and went to go hang around the library. Sure, it’d get lonely sometimes, but I’d prefer that over all the chaos in my life.

Suddenly I was pushed back into the wall, the halls now empty. I stared, wide-eyed, as Rhao towered over me. I wasn’t a shorty at 6’2, but he easily stood over me, bracing his arms on either side of my head. I pressed into the wall as he leaned forward, narrow purple eyes locked with mine.

“Wh—what are you doing?”

His eyes widened a fraction. “So he speaks.” He reached down to trace my lips with his thumb. I was frozen with shock, unable to move away. “But what a strange voice he has. I would say shadow demon, but he smells human. A distant relative, then?”

I unfroze and pushed his hand away from my face. He relented, placing his arm back on the wall and once again trapping me. “That’s none of your business. Now stop with…whatever the hell you’re doing. We’re going to be late.”

He leaned even closer; his nose less than an inch from mine. “Then we’ll be late.” He whispered; his breath tickled my face and I shivered, looking away. “I told you…” He pressed his body against mine, making me gasp in surprise. “You’re mine.”

The bell rung, signaling the start of class. Fuck. I tried to shove him away, but he didn’t budge; he only smirked at my attempt. _Fuck._ I clenched my hands into fists on his chest.

“Let me go.”

“Why should I?” He brushed the back of his hand against my face. “I think I like you just where you are.”

I shoved his hand away and tried to duck under his arm, but he placed it back on the wall, quicker than I could see. I looked up and glared at him, a nerve jumping in my jaw.

“We’re _late.”_

He shrugged. “I could care less. I only came here for one thing.” He smirked down at me, eyes shining. “And I think I just found it.” 

I would’ve responded angrily, except he suddenly swooped down and caught my lips in a kiss. My eyes bulged out and I pushed on his chest.

“Mmph!” That would’ve translated into ‘Move!’, just so you know. That was stupid on my part, because as soon as I opened my mouth, his tongue entered and muffled what I was trying to say. My eyes widened impossibly further as he began to map out my mouth with the wet muscle.

“Mmm! Nnmph!” I pushed even harder on his chest, even though the attempt was futile. He ignored me, pressing me into the wall as he leisurely licked the inside of my mouth. His tongue suddenly brushed against a sensitive spot on the roof and I let out an involuntary moan.

He pulled away, looking at me with a brow arched—I could never do that—and I stared back at him wide-eyed. A slow smirk spread across his face and he quickly leaned in for another kiss. I sucked in a sharp breath and went to turn my head away in rejection, except he gently but firmly eased it back towards him and pressed for kiss. My lips were already parted from my gasp and he slipped his tongue in easily, immediately seeking for the spot on the roof of my mouth. He rubbed his tongue against it and my eyes rolled to the back of my head, fluttering shut.

One side of me wanted to give in and let him do his thing, but the other side of me yelled a vehement _No!_ inside my head. I tried to push him away again, but my arms felt heavy and noodle like. All of a sudden, my knees buckled and I would’ve fallen, except he caught me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He used the opportunity to pull me flush against his body, my hands squished between our chests. It was awkward and weird and I wanted to pull away but I couldn’t.

He pulled back a little to nibble and suck on my bottom lip and I couldn’t help but let out a small moan at the bolt of pleasure that shot through me. I could feel him smirk against my mouth and I wanted to punch him in his cocky face. But it would probably hurt my hand like a bitch and not even harm him in any way. His arm tightened around my waist as he pulled away, looking down at me with that stupid smirk. I glared at him, breathing hard.

“What the fuck? What’re you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m claiming you.”

I stared at him incredulously. “Claiming me? I’m not yours _to_ claim. And I’m not an object!”

He tsked at me. “Don’t deny it; you know you liked it.”

“I did not!” Not purposely anyway. “You can’t just do that! You don’t even know my name.”

He tilted his head forward a bit. “And yet you know mine.” He pursed his lips. “Fine. By lunch, I’ll know your name.”

I glared at him. “Don’t fucking bother.”

~oOo~

By lunch time I was tenser than the last minutes before game time. Tiffany pranced to my side as I headed for the line, immediately pushing her breasts into my arm. I ignored her and scanned the crowd, looking for Rhao. I’d pushed him onto someone else after second period, unable to remember who in my desperation to get away from him.

After declaring that he would find out my name by lunch, he pushed me against the wall and began to kiss me again. He kept me there until the bell signaling the end of class rang, and then made me show him to his second period as if nothing happened. Luck would have that I had the same second with him and he smirked at me all through class. I fortunately didn’t have third period with him. Actually, I didn’t have fourth, fifth or, sixth with him. And now it was lunch; hopefully he wouldn’t show.

“Bran- _don.”_ Tiffany’s angry voice had me looking down at her. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”

I grabbed a tray and held it out for the lunch lady. “Nope.”

Gross, we were having ‘spaghetti’. It looked like a dog ate some normal spaghetti then barfed it up. I grabbed two puddings and an apple. Behind me, Tiffany picked up a salad.

“And why _weren’t_ you listening to me?”

“Because…all you do is gossip about who did this and that. I honestly could care less.”

She peered up at me, a nasty grin spreading across her face. “Even if it was about the Angulus Humanaes?”

I scowled. “ _Especially_ if it’s about them.”

She huffed and strutted to our table, where Rick sat with Hunen, Lin and Frederick. Freddie was as close a friend to me as Rick was. He sort of…nullified Rick’s stupidity with his own genius and kept me sane. Rick was telling Hunen and Lin about the food when me and Tiffany reached them.

“Yeah, never eat what they serve. Stick to the salad, anything packaged, and the fruit. It’s ain’t the best lunch, but a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do when it comes to food, you know.” He looked up. “Yo, bro. First day’s been a bitch yet?”

I sat down with my tray, shoving away the ‘spaghetti’. “It always is. Four years of first days and it’s still shitty.” More so than usual, this year. Not only because the Angulus Humanaes would be attending our school, but because one of them in particular had plans on molesting me.

Rick grinned. “Last year of it all, though.”

“Yeah.”

Frederick snorted. “Oh, please. I swear you two are the only ones who have a problem on the first day.”

Rick glared at him. “Shut up, nerd.”

“You shut up, dumbass.”

Oh, did I mention that Rick and Frederick don’t like each other? They would love nothing more than to beat the shit out of each other. I wasn’t sure what caused it, but since about two years ago, they suddenly became really hostile to each other. I tried to fix it, but I think I only made it worse. They began to argue, Hunen and Lin looking uncomfortable between them. I knew how they felt; half the time I was in the same position.

Brandy appeared out of nowhere and plopped down beside Tiffany with her own salad. They were best friends and looked almost exactly alike. Sluttish. Tiffany turned to her and immediately they began to whisper, giggling and shrieking quietly every once in a while. I tuned them out and ate my pudding.

“ _Brandon.”_ All of a sudden, someone whispered in my ear, their breath tickling it. I shivered and straightened, looking behind me. Rhao stood with a cocky-slash-smug-slash-triumphant grin on his face. I looked around; no one seemed to notice my reaction. He sat in the chair beside me.

“Brandon.”

“What?” I snapped. When I got angry, the rasp in my voice increased and I sounded scary, but Rhao only grinned.

“Braaandon.” I grit my teeth and tried to ignore him, turning back to my pudding. He leaned forward, closer to my ear. “I now know your name… _Brandon._ And I think…” He blew in my ear and I involuntarily shivered again. “I think I found another sensitive spot. You know what that means?” I could hear the grin in his voice.  

I clenched my spoon until my knuckles turned white. To my left, Tiffany and Brandy chattered on with their high-pitched voice; in front of me, Frederick and Rick got louder and louder with their argument; to my right I had Rhao grinning like a cocky bastard and molesting me. I fucking hate my life right now, so fucking bad.

Without saying a word, I slammed my spoon on the table and stood, effectively shutting everyone up. I glared at them all, excluding Hunen and Lin who were kind of just sitting there awkwardly, and stormed out of the cafeteria, ignoring all the stares.

It wasn’t until I was nearly half-way to the front doors of the school when I heard footsteps running after me. I whirled around and glared at Frederick as he ran towards me. I knew it was him because he was the only one who ever ran after me after I exploded.

“Not today, Freddie. I’m really not in the mood.”

He shook his head. “I’m not here to stop you; I’m here to go _with_ you.”

I blinked at him. “What? Why?”

He shrugged. “Nothing much else to do around here today, especially with the big uproar over the new guys.” His scrunched his nose a bit. “If they haven’t killed us yet, why would they do it now? People around here ought to shut up and mind their own business. It’s annoying, hearing everyone go on and on about them.”

“That’s the most I ever heard you say at once.”

His cheeks flamed and he looked away. “We leaving or not?”

I smirked. “Yeah, let’s go.”

~oOo~

“ _Brandon._ The reason you’re not supposed to eat with your mouthful is because one, no one wants to see your disgusting, half-eaten food. Two, because your food will fly out your mouth and _land on my face._ And then I’ll kick your ass.”

“Kick _my_ ass? You won’t even fight Rick and I think we have a much more better relationship than you and him.”

I didn’t doubt for a second that he could though. Frederick was one of the linebackers on the team. Given, he was the smallest of them, but he’s taken down each and every one of the other linebacker’s on the team, easy. Growing up, he had one of those health crazy dad’s and so instead of going outside to play like any ol’ normal kid, he was in the house, drinking eggs and doing a hundred push-ups a day. That’s why he was so strong, even though he was so small. For a linebacker, anyway. He’s taller and buffer than me and Rick. 

Frederick rolled his eyes. “Much more better doesn’t make sense, idiot. And Rick’s never spat half-eaten food at me before. Different reactions to different things, man, different reactions.”

I snorted. “Yeah okay, hippie.”

He punched my arm and laughed. We were currently sitting in my car, eating a box of pizza from _Pizzeria Italiano_ in front of a park. Well, _the_ park. The only one in town. I always thought it was a shame that we had such little greenery around here. Kind of saddening; seeing buildings and sidewalks and roads everywhere. Concrete jungle much? The park, though, was always peaceful and relaxing. It eased my nerves. I know this probably sounds like something everyone would say, but it’s so much more to me than it seems.

“So…what’s up with you and the head honcho, Angulus Humanaes extreme?”

“What?” I looked up to him nonchalantly picking off his pepperoni and putting it to the side for later. I never understood how he could wait to eat them last, but hey, each to his own.

“You know the one. Raho or whatever.”

“Rhao?” I grimaced. “What about him?”

He looked up from his pickings to stare at me. “Dude, I saw what happened in the cafeteria, even though I was arguing with Rick. What’s he messing around with you for?”

Appetite now gone, I set my pizza back in the box. “I dunno. He’s been doing that all day. I didn’t _do_ anything to him. He just…” I sighed. “I can’t explain it.”

A flash of him kissing me, pushing me into the wall passed through my mind and I shifted and looked away. I could feel Frederick’s eyes on me and my cheeks heated a little. He kept staring, knowing that I would crack, until I did.

“He—he—he…” I threw my arms in the air and flailed them wildly, conscious of the roof of the car. “He _kissed_ me! In—in the halls when I had to show him to his next class.”

Frederick blinked, hands clenching into fists. “He _kissed_ you?”

I nodded vigorously, happy to have someone to tell this to. “The bell rung and everyone was gone and he suddenly pushed me against the wall and started kissing me.” I slammed my hands on the steering wheel. “So I was like ‘what are you doing’ and he’s all like ‘you’re mine’ and I’m like _‘wha?’_ an—and—.”

“Brandon!” He grabbed my shoulder. “Chill out, bro. You’re working yourself into a fit.”

I stared at him, eyes wide and chest heaving, and tried to calm down. “But _why?_ Why’d he do it? I don’t even _know_ him.”

Frederick sighed and rubbed his temples, tense. “Okay, let’s go through this. You barely know him, meaning that he also barely knows you, and suddenly… _jumps_ you in the hall when he pretty much ignores everyone else. He’s annoying you for apparently no reason, _still_ ignoring everyone else… _oh.”_

“What?” I grabbed his am when he didn’t say anything. “ _WHAT?”_

He turned to me, his face pale. “What do you know about the Angulus Humanaes?”

I shrugged. “Almost nothing. My mom’s terrified of them. She’ll flip when she hears they’re in our school.”

“Yeah, okay.” He sighed and scratched his neck. “Contrary to belief, the AH’s _don’t_ hate humans; they kind of have a grudging respect for them. And this is for one reason, and one reason only: an AH’s life mate can only be human, or really close to a human. They can’t have a mate from any other race. Scientists don’t know why, but suspect it has something to do with the way their genetics are wired.”

“Yeah, so?”

He glared at me. “ _So,_ an AH will do anything he or she can to get their life mate once they find them. Some AH’s spend their whole, never ending life searching for their life mate. It’s a big deal to them if they do find theirs.”

I gave him a blank look. “And this has to do with me because…?”

He gave me an exasperated look. “I think that Raho—.”

“Rhao.”

“ _Whatever._ He thinks you’re his mate.”

I blinked at him and my jaw dropped. A thought popped into my head, a memory from earlier today, something Rhao had said that didn’t really make sense at the time. “ _I only came here for one thing. And I think I just found it.”_

Oh fuck me. This is _not_ good. Not good at all.


	4. Stalker, Stalker

I didn’t get any sleep that night and the next morning I looked and felt like a zombie. No wonder they went around eating people if they felt like this all the damn time. I felt like killing someone my damn self.

My mom was pissed at me because I wouldn’t change schools because of the AH’s—why go through the tedious process when they weren’t really dangerous…except for Rhao—so my breakfast sucked ass. I wasn’t really that hungry anyway. A shower helped a little bit; it returned a bit of color to my face and I looked less dead. By the time I was heading out for my car, I was starting to feel a lot more me and less zombie. That is, until I opened the door to see a bright, cherry red Porsche in front of my house, Rhao leaning on the passenger side. He was wearing dark shades, covering half his face, but I knew that his eyes were on me. 

Closing the door behind me, I swallowed hard and ignored him, heading for my car. My old Nissan looked crappy compared to his gleaming Porsche. No matter, I still loved her. He followed after me.

“Hey, wait. Brandon.”

My body turned on its own accord. “Yes?”

He grinned crookedly at me. “I’m here to give you a ride to school.”

“Thanks.” I turned away. “But no thanks.” I was jerked to a stop as he grabbed my arm.

“Come on. We’ll get coffee and donuts before we go, okay?”

I pulled away. “It’s still no. I can get my own coffee and donuts.”

He frowned at me. “Why won’t you accept my offer?”

“Because I _barely_ know you and because I am very capable of driving my own car.” I made the mistake of turning around, managing to catch the puppy-dog gaze he gave me.

“Pl- _ease?”_

“…”

And that’s how I ended up in the passenger seat of Rhao’s Porsche, holding a cup of Joe and a bag of cookies—I blatantly refused to get the donuts—on the way to school while he hummed softly to a song playing on the radio. I…have no backbone. At all. _Dammit._ I vowed to myself to never underestimate the power of the puppy-dog face.

I was reluctant to get out of the car once he pulled into the school parking lot. A lot of people were glancing at the car, wondering who drove such a nice automobile to school and knowing with envy that it could only be one of the AH’s. He turned off the car and looked at me with a small smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth.

“You gonna get out, or what?” His tone was playful, no hint of malice, but I still glared at him.

“Why did you do this? What does this accomplish for you? Huh?”

He tilted his head, a smile playing at his lips. “I got to ensure your complete safety.”

I gaped at him. “My _safety?_ I’m a grown man! Who _cares?”_

“I do.” He all but growled out. “I care.”

“Why?” I challenged him to tell me if it was true or not. If I really was his mate as Frederick seemed to believe.

He looked down. “I…can’t tell you yet. I’m not sure myself, but I think so…you just _have_ to be…” That last part was a mumble that wasn’t meant for me to hear, but I heard anyway.

Just then the bell rung and people started rushing in for class, providing me with a perfect distraction to sneak out of his car and into the flow of students. I glanced back and didn’t see him. He must’ve stayed in the car, thinking. Not my problem. I turned away and rushed for homeroom.

I thought I’d gotten away from him, Scott-free, but I forgot that I had most of my classes with him. All through every single class, I could feel his gaze on me. It burned the back of my head or the side of my face, all day long. Even the class I _didn’t_ have with him. It got to the point where even the ever oblivious Rick asked me what was wrong. I was tempted to not go to lunch. Hiding out in the bathroom even sounded like a good idea, if I could just avoid him for a mere _second_ of peace.

Which was how I ended up trapped in a locked bathroom with an Angulus Humanae during lunch, praying that he wouldn’t push me up on a wall and start kissing me again. Rhao smirked, as if he was reading my thoughts, and stepped closer to me. I reflexively took a step back and bumped into one of the stall doors.

“Planning on hide from me, Brandon? Too bad your plan failed.” His head tilted to the side and his smirk widened. “Or were you _trying_ to purposely lure me in here? Trying to seduce me, _eyami_?”

I shook my head furiously, ignoring whatever the hell that weird word he just said was, and inched away from him, hoping he wouldn’t notice. I had to keep his attention on my face so that he wouldn’t realize I was headed for the door.

“Why would I want to seduce _you?_ You’re a horrible kisser, just so you know.”

He frowned for a moment, causing me to freeze—I thought he caught my act—but then he smiled and I relaxed…just to tense right back up and he suddenly appeared in front of me with a soft, seductive purr. He slowly reached up and placed a palm on either side of my head, just like yesterday.

“I can’t help but think that you’re lying, Brandon.” He tsked at me. “What, with the way you were moaning? Your _knees_ gave out from under you, _eyami_. I had to hold your body to me. Unless…” He smirked and pressed his body into mine. “That’s what you wanted me to do…”

I shook my head again. “ _No!_ I was just…shocked by your total incompetence…”

“Hmm…” His head titled to the side. “I think that I…need to fix that, don’t you think?”

My eyes went wide, but before I could respond, he was kissing me hard. His hands slipped down to grip my waist and he pressed his body further into mine, pushing me literally up the door. My feet were dangling just slightly off the ground. I already knew fighting against him was pointless, but I still couldn’t help but push on his shoulders with all my strength, clenching my teeth so that he couldn’t put his tongue in my mouth. Luckily he pulled away, even if it was just to smirk at me.

“I thought you learned last time that fighting me was pointless? You pretty much gave in before, why not now?”

I glared at him. “Because I’m not like that! Now let me go!”

“What do you mean, you’re not like that?” His brow furrowed. “Like what?”

“I don’t _know_ you! You can’t just start kissing me out of the blue.” I let go of his shoulders to wave my hands in the air, ignoring the fact that I was still pushed up the door. “You’re basically a stranger to me; I don’t know _anything_ about you other than your name and what you are.”

He blinked and let me go, taking a step back. “What do you want to know?”

“W—what?”

“You said you don’t know me.” He shrugged. “So what do you want to know?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t _work_ like that, Rhao. I—I have a girlfriend, and besides, I’m straight. I don’t… _do_ stuff like that with guys.”

“Why not?”

“I just… _don’t._ The way I was raised, I guess.” I shrugged, my brow furrowing at the whirling vortex of emotions in my stomach. “I—I’m sorry. I really am…I just…I can’t. I have to go.”

I ran from the bathroom. He didn’t follow me. Actually, I didn’t see him for all the rest of the day, though that scary Visara girl shot me a hard glare. It only bothered me a little. She was _really_ scary.

Frederick was the only one to notice the hostility I got from the girl, though, and as he always did when he wanted to know something, he cornered me after school and questioned the looks.

“I—I don’t know…” I looked away from him.

“Brandon, I know you. You were acting weird all day and then after lunch, something of which you did _not_ attend, you start acting even weirder. Now that AH girl is giving you these looks. She _literally_ goes out of her way to glare at you. And Rhao’s missing. Did something happen with him?”

“No!” I bit my lip. “Maybe…”

“Brandon…” He started doing that staring thing he does, so it wasn’t long before I ended up caving.

“He was _waiting_ for me this morning with his stupid car—how did he even know where I live—and he bought me cookies and coffee and he was all like ‘I care about you’ and I freaked out and so I tried to avoid him, but I have a lot of classes with him and so he was _staring_ at me and then I tried to hide from him in the bathroom but he _followed_ me in there and he locked the door and tried to make out with me and I was like ‘no I’m not like that’ and he was confused and he was calling me some weird name—.”

Frederick grabbed my shoulders. “Brandon!”

“Now that I think about it, I sounded really bitchy. He probably thinks I’m a bitch. And he probably hates me now. That’s a bad thing isn’t it?  I should go apologize. But then he’ll think that he can make out with me if I do that.” My face crumpled. “Freddie, what do I do?”

“First, take a deep breath.” He patted my shoulder. “Now analyze the situation. Rhao is a young AH who thinks you are his mate. That means that he is very much so under experienced and also overeager. All he can think about is being with you. He’s not human or even close, so he doesn’t understand our standards or the way we do things out here. He doesn’t understand why you rejected him. Yes, you need to go apologize, but you also need to explain to him _why_ you rejected him. It’ll take time and effort, but you have to do this.”

“Thanks, man.” I took a deep breath. “I—I needed that.”

“You’re welcome. For now, go home and think about what you’re going to say. Sleep on it, and stay calm. Seriously, _stay calm._ You freak out too much.”

“I do not.”

He rolled his eyes at me. “Whatever.”

I had to walk home because I got a fucking ride from Rhao this morning and now he was fucking MIA. But I was fine with it, mostly. I haven’t walked home in a while and it was actually kind of relaxing. Well, it would’ve been had not I felt someone staring at me halfway home. 

The hairs on the back of my neck would rise, but every time I turned around, no one was there. I was seriously creeped out and doubled up my pace…

Okay, think that I’m crazy all you want, but as soon as I did that I heard footsteps. But whenever I turned around…I shivered uncontrollably and started to damn near jog.

I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going; it didn’t matter because it was pretty much a straight way to my house until the last corner, where my house was. My heartbeat pounded in my ears and my whole body shook. I just couldn’t shake that…that stare. It made my blood run cold, my lungs retract painfully, my heart pound overtime. I started to flat out ran, desperate to get away from the feeling. The echoing footsteps doubled, matching my pace, even going faster than it. A foreboding cold seemed to violate my body, reaching out to my heart and squeezing it tightly—

My running abruptly came to a halt as I crashed into a rock hard chest. Strong arms caught me before I could fall and pulled me into a reassuringly familiar body, which I clutched tightly to, at the moment not caring about who in particular it was. A harsh growl emitted over my head and I was suddenly surrounded by warm yet metal-hard feathers, holding onto me just as tightly as the arms. The cold feeling disappeared, along with some of my fear, yet I still shivered and surprised myself with the small whimper—that had actually been crawling up my throat since the beginning—that escaped from my lips.

Instantly the arms and wings—which by the way softened until it felt like I was surrounded by clouds—loosened their hold, but I only held on tighter and whimpered again. I admit, I was still terrified. There was _no way_ I was letting go. Even if the person I was holding on to was the one person I somehow found more vexing than my girlfriend. A hand tentatively released my waist to reach up and running through my hair. I relaxed into the motions and sighed contentedly as my fear was slowly ebbed away.

Of course, that idiot had to go and ruin it by speaking.

“Brandon…” His voice was harsh and tense with anger, even as his hand stayed gentle on my hair and around my waist, as did his wings. “Care to tell me exactly _why_ a ghoul was chasing after you?”

Damn, he made it sound as if I _wanted_ the fucking thing chasing me! I stiffened and pushed his hand away, looking up to glare at him.

“It’s not like I _asked_ the fucking thing to chase me! I didn’t even know what it was until you said something. I—I…” I looked down at shivered, my voice lowering to a whisper. “I was scared.”

Immediately his tone changed and his hand returned to my head. “I’m sorry. I just…I got scared too. When I saw you running as if your life depended on it…and then that fucking ghoul chasing you…” He shuddered and I bit my lip.

“R—Rhao…”

He looked down at me and smiled, his eyes going from purple crystal shards to a warm purple river instantly. “Let’s get you home, okay _eyami_? I don’t want you out here for so long. Another one of those things might come after you.”

Instead of getting tense and defensive, I simply nodded and let him walk me all the way home with one wing and one arm around me. Luckily, majority of my neighbors didn’t care enough to stay peeking out of their windows and gossip about _scandalous_ things every day or else my mom would’ve flipped a lid knowing that I let Rhao walk me home.

No one was there, as was per usual for me to be alone whenever I came home. Practice won’t start for a few weeks, so until then I learned to put up with the emptiness. ‘Rents were at work, Stacey was with her friends more than likely, and Alex and Andy were at whatever afterschool club thingy they went to. It honestly never bothered me before, but with that ghoul thing still coming after me…I wasn’t so sure if I wanted to be by myself.  Rhao, of course, flipped a lid when he realized.

“What?! By yourself? You can’t stay by yourself! What if the fucking ghoul comes back—?”

“Then stay.”

He froze and looked down at me dumbly. “Wha’?”

I rolled my eyes and opened the door. “Stay here until someone comes home. Of course, you have to leave before my mom gets home, but otherwise…”

“Brandon _…_ are you...asking me into your home?” His smile was so bright and he had such a retardedly dazed look on his face that I couldn’t help but blush.

“Yes, you idiot, so get in here before I change my mind.”

Before I even finished my sentence, he was scrambling in after me, a look of pure happiness on his face. I blinked. Why was he so happy just to be in my house? Wait…did he think that…this meant free-for-all? Oh no, he had another thing coming if he thought he could corner me in my own goddamned house. I shot him a glare and ignored the confused look he gave me, trudging up the stairs to my room.

Just before I opened my door, though, I was luckily hit in the face with a revelation. If I went into my room, then Rhao was sure to follow me, and then he’d have no problem what so ever pinning me down on my own bed and doing… _that_ stuff to me again.

_Well, it’s not like you didn’t enjoy it…_

I didn’t.

_Oh, so what were those? Moans of pain? ‘Cause it sure as hell didn’t look painful…_

I’m a fucking man! It’s a natural reaction!

_So you’re saying that he’s that good that he gets you turned on even though you ‘hate his guts’? Are you complimenting him?_

Shut up random voice in my head!

I shivered and, realizing that I just had a fucking conversation with what was more than likely my libido, I wrenched the door open and stormed inside. If Rhao thought that any of that was weird, he didn’t let on, just followed me inside with a look of awe on his face as his eyes darted back and forth. Then his eyebrows rose as he turned to me.

…oh, fuck.

I’d forgotten.

My favorite color is purple and when I have a favorite of something I tend to have an obsession with it. My whole room was painted dark purple, even the ceiling, and I had just about purple everything. Hell, my backpack was fucking purple. And the thing I’d forgotten?

Rhao is an egotistic cocky bastard…with purple hair and eyes.

“Hey, Brandon, if you missed me so much while we were out of school all you had to do was invite me over.” He slid towards me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Preferably in bed. If you catch my drift.”

I glared up at him and shoved him away. He surprisingly backed off—I wasn’t strong enough to actual push him away—but that infuriating smirk stayed. 

“My favorite color had been purple since practically the day I was born, okay?! So I suggest you deflate your ego a bit. It’s fucking suffocating.”

His smirk softened a bit and he stepped towards me. “I was just kidding, Brandon. I already guessed that, since your backpack is such a bright purple and I don’t think any ol’ person would wear such a brightly colored backpack without reason.” He frowned a bit, a cute little crease appearing between his brows. “Unless that’s a part of human culture or something. I don’t think I‘ve seen anyone else with such a bright backpack, though…”

I didn’t hear anything else he said because I was stuck on the fact that I _called him fucking cute._ What the hell is wrong with me? Rhao’s not cute; he’s a fucking molester who was after my ass. A butt pirate. And he’s a fucking pervert. Perverts aren’t cute!

“Braa~aandoon…” I blinked and found Rhao’s face right in front of mine.

Letting out an embarrassing squeal, I jumped back, only to trip over my backpack that I didn’t remember dropping and landed on my bed. I looked up to glare at Rhao, who was looking at me innocently, with a snarl.          

“You shithead! With hell were you doing?”

He frowned. “You zoned out. I was only trying to get your attention.”

I scowled. “You scared me.”

“Sorry, _eyami_.” His apologetic expression looked sincere, but I didn’t know if I could trust him or not. Though he did kind of save me from that ghoul thingy.

And didn’t ask for anything in return.

…

Yet.

I sighed. “It’s fine. I guess I’m still jittery from that ghoul chasing me down the street.”

His expression immediately became concerned and he strode quickly to sit beside me on the bed, placing a hand on my back. It was oddly comforting and not sexual in the least. “Are you sure you’re okay, _eyami?_ Because if you’re not…it’s okay to let out your fears. No one likes meeting a ghoul for the first time. Especially one chasing after you.”

Shuddering at the memory, I nodded, my body unconsciously leaning into the comfort of his side. “It was like nothing I ever felt before. I really felt like pissing my pants, I swear. I—I hope I never run into one of those things again.”

“You won’t.” I looked up to see Rhao glaring in the distance, his expression scary. “Not with me around. I don’t care what you say, Brandon; from here on out I’m taking you to school and bringing you back home.”

I stiffened and glared up at him. “No way! I’m not a baby!”

“Brandon.” He growled, turning that glare on me. “Please don’t argue with me on this. I couldn’t forgive myself if you got hurt and I had the power to prevent it.” His face crumpled and he pulled away from me, shoulders hunching. “Please. I won’t let that happen. Not again.”

Woah. Personality change much? I’d never seen Rhao with such a dark expression on his face. Granted, I’ve only known him for two days, but from what I could tell, he didn’t seem like a person who could harbor such thoughts that would give him an expression like that. I blinked and scowled a little. Not that I really cared. It wasn’t my business if he was feeling bad or not. It wasn’t…

_So then why does it hurt your chest to see him like this?_

Shut the fuck up, stupid inner voice whatever! I think I’m going crazy.

_Yeah, crazy for Rhao._

Shut up!

I startled and looked up when I felt an arm wrap around my waist. Rhao was looking down at me, concern lining his face. I scowled and punched his side, immediately regretting it when my fist only rebounded off his abs and my knuckles throbbed. He laughed softly and grabbed my hand, lightly kissing my knuckles.

“Rhao!” My cheeks heated and I tried to pull away, but his grip was firm.

“Brandon.” I looked up and my breath knotted in my chest at the intensely serious look he was giving me, his purple irises darker than usual. His wings came around and pulled me closer to him. “There’s something I need to tell you…something important.”

My eyes widened. Was he going to tell me I was his mate? Could he do that? Weren’t there protocols or something for things like this? I unconsciously leaned towards him.

“Umm…I—I…you’re—…” He growled, his hand clenching and unclenching around mine. “I can fucking do this…Brandon…I think you’re my—.”

We both jumped when a shrill ringing sound suddenly cut him off. I blinked, realizing how close we were to each other and sat back. The movement brought Rhao’s attention to me, causing him to frown at the sudden distance, before he pulled away from me completely to answer his phone.

“Hello?” I could faintly hear the other person speaking. “What? Now? But I—.” The person snapped at him and he scowled. “Fine. I’m on my way right now.” He snapped his phone closed and glanced at me. I looked away.

“I don’t want to leave you alone but…” He growled out a sigh. “I have to go.”

“Oh.” I couldn’t explain the abrupt feeling of despondence suddenly weighing heavily on my chest. Maybe because I’d been anticipating what he was going to tell me, only to be disappointed.  

“Hey…” He grabbed my chin and gently turned my head towards him. “I’ll see you in the morning, right? I _will_ be here and don’t even try to leave earlier than you usually would, okay?”

I scowled. “I’m not a baby…”

He laughed softly. “I know that. And I’ll prove it to you.”

Before I could process the meaning behind his words, so that I could react properly, he swooped down and kissed me. It was different than it was the two times before. This time it was…sweeter. Softer, gentler, less hungry. Unused to such affections, my body betrayed me by responding, leaning into the kiss. When something wet brushed against my lips, asking for entrance, they parted and allowed the appendage in. I couldn’t help the shudder that passed through my body as the kiss slowly heated, this time smoldering instead of burning me. Then he went and slowly licked the sensitive spot on the roof of my mouth, making me moan and my eyes roll up. He smiled against my lips and pulled away.

“See you tomorrow, _eyami.”_ Before I could blink, he was gone.

God damn it...


	5. What I've Done

The next morning, as promised, Rhao was waiting in front of my house, just as he was yesterday. I sighed and trudged towards him. He took his shades of and smiled at me.

“Good morning, _eyami.”_

I scowled at him. “What the hell does that even mean?”

He only blinked at me and grinned. “Maybe I’ll tell you one day, but not now. Let’s go; we still have to get you coffee and donuts.”

My cheeks heated. “I don’t need coffee and donuts, you don’t have to.”

“But I want to.”

After a lot of arguing and, admittedly, pouting, I ended up with the damned coffee and donuts. Again. No fucking backbone. When Frederick saw me walking towards my locker, he shook his head with a soft laugh. I glared grumpily at him. 

“What?”

“I thought you were mad at Rhao. How’d he get you this time?”

“He didn’t ‘get me’ and…” I sighed heavily, recalling that scary ghoul thing or whatever. “It’s a long and complicated story.”

He snorted. “Everything for you is long and complicated.”

“I hate my life.” I leaned against my locker and let my head thump back on the hard metal.

…Ow

Visara walked past and gave me the stank eye. I wasn’t in the mood for her random hatred towards me and so I glared at her back with a low growl. Surprised flitted in her gaze for a moment before she blinked it away and whirled off down the hall. Frederick whistled low.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“No.” My voice was raspier than usual, so much so that even I was able to tell. “I woke up on the right side of the bed. Just got out of the wrong car.”

“Ah.” He nodded understandingly. He couldn’t possibly understand what I was going through. “So…has he coughed up his little secret yet?”

I shook my head. “I think he tried to, yesterday, but something came up. It was weird, ‘cause I felt…I dunno, like I really wanted him to tell me. And then I got so mad when he got that call. I’m really confused right now and I don’t think I can trust my own emotions anymore.”

He put a hand on my shoulder. “Relax before you work yourself into a fit. It’s okay that you’re having mixed emotions. If you’re really concerned about how you’re feeling, talk to him about it. Maybe that’ll entice him to tell you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I shoved off my locker as the bell rung. “I just hope you’re right about this whole thing, because I don’t want to look like a fucking idiot.”

~oOo~

Before I knew it, a week had passed since the Angulus Humanaes came to my school. Mom still wasn’t talking to me, and it didn’t help that Rhao still came and picked me up every single fucking day. She flipped a lid when she saw him the first time, leaning against his bright red Porsche, forbidding me from being near him. As if her words alone would stop Rhao.

Speaking of said AH, Rhao’s been a bit distant lately. Not that it bothered me, but he seemed really distracted. Yeah, every morning he picked me up, got me donuts and coffee, and took me to school, but he would be quiet the entire ride. At school, he would absently kiss my cheek, always doing it so fast that I hardly ever noticed until he already did it, and then leave before I even got out the car. During school, he didn’t try to harass me, even at his favorite time of the day—lunch.

In fact, he pretty much spent most of his time with Visara, who still glared at me whenever she saw me. Afterschool, Rhao would already be at his car, more often than not talking to Visara as he waited for me. Then it would be anther quiet ride home, and then he would again kiss me on the cheek before driving off.

He wasn’t the only one acting different, however. Rick. My best friend since we were embryos, has been hanging out with Hunen more often than me. I don’t want to say he’s been avoiding me, but…it was close enough. He only spoke to me if only I initiated the conversation first. Otherwise, he was with Hunen.

Frederick had two stalkers. Beni and Eoin—lo and behold, those two were distantly related—had begun to follow him around a few days ago. He said that it didn’t bother him that much, as long as they didn’t interrupt his studying. I could tell, though, that it was beginning to annoy him a little. The freaky thing was, I knew it was because they wouldn’t come up and talk to him, not because they were following him everywhere. Freddie was also pretty pissed off at Rick. More than normal anyway. Apparently, he also noticed how my supposed best friend was acting.

At the moment, Tiffany was having one of her hissy fits and ignoring me. That probably bothered me the least, if at all. I finally had some peace and quiet without her jabbering away in my ear. Except…there was one thing...She keeps sending me these weird, smug looks, as if she knew something I didn’t and it would ultimately be something bad for me. But knowing Tiffany, that could be anything.

And I officially hate Mondays now. Before, they were just annoying. Now, I want to kill whoever came up with the day.

For starters, I woke up late, so not only did I not get any breakfast—dammit, Mom, you could’ve left me something—but I had to rush to get ready before Rhao arrived. Which proved to be futile when ten minutes after his usual time I found myself running down the street so that I wouldn’t be late.

I was late anyway. And I had afterschool detention.

Rhao wasn’t there at first or second, and I didn’t see him until lunch. He looked like crap, so I decided not to give him a hard time for not picking me up. Then I sulked when I realized how fucking dependent I became on him.

Why the fuck didn’t I just drive my own car?

_Because you’ve gotten so used to Rhao that you forgot you even owned a car._

Shut up, stupid inner voice. So not in the mood for your shit talk.

_Just saying…_

Well, don’t.

Then I noticed Visara hanging off of Rhao’s arm and my anger flared. I didn’t know why I was getting so angry, but I was. Why did he spend all that time harassing me just to go gallivanting off with someone else? Wait…was it because I kept pushing him away?

W-well good. That’s exactly what I wanted…Right?

_Uh, obviously not…_

SHUT UP!

“Hey!” I glanced to see Frederick leaning over his desk, staring intently at me. We were currently in seventh period. “What’s the matter with you?”

“I’m fine.”

“Excuse me.” Oops. I was too loud. I looked up sheepishly at the front of the class.

“Yes, Mr. Whittier?”

“Is there something you have to say about my lesson?”

“No sir.”

“Then I suggest you shut up.”

“Yes sir.”

Asshole. I glanced back at Frederick and shook my head slowly. His jaw clenched, his eyes clearly showing concern, but he dropped the subject.

At the end of class, I slowly trudged my way to Ms. Belle’s class. When she saw me, she put her hands on her hips and gave me a stern look.

“Now, Brandon, I know you are a good student. I didn’t want to give you detention, but you know the rules. I couldn’t be lenient on you in front of the others.”

“I understand, Ms. Belle.”

Her face softened. “Good. Now, just stay for the hour, okay? I won’t force you to do your homework; you can do as you like as long as you don’t leave the classroom. Just turn off your phone, okay? Rules.” She rolled her eyes. “I have a meeting to attend to, so I will lock the door. I’ll let you out when your hour’s up.”

“Okay.”

She smiled at me. “Okay. Be good.”

With that, she swept from the room. A moment later, I heard the lock click in place. 

I went to my seat and slouched down. For five minutes straight, I stared at the wall across from me. My mind was a jumbled up mess. I just didn’t know what to do. In the end, I took out my homework. Might as well do it while I’m here. God knows I won’t do it when I get home, not with the bad day I’ve been having.

It took my only half an hour to finish, leaving me twenty five minutes to figure out what the hell to do. A loud knocking drew my attention to the window. Freddie stood there with a large grin. He held up a sign.

_Less than 30, man, u cn pull thru. I wait for u. eat ltr. Ok?_

I grinned and gave him a thumps up. His smile widened and he returned it before running off. That weirdo. He was such an awesome friend. Hmm…made me think about how good of a friend Rick was. As of the late, he’s been doing pretty bad. I wish he would just tell me what was up. Maybe I could help him, and we could go back to our old relationship.

There was another knock on the window, and I turned my head. Then my eyes widened. It was Rhao, staring at me with his head tilted to the side. His brow furrowed when our eyes locked and he began to mouth words.

‘ _Brandon? What are you doing in there?’_

My eyes narrowed and I looked away. As if he really cared. Pssh. It was his fault I was in here in the first damn place. He could leave for all I cared.

“Brandon.”

I jumped out of my chair as he suddenly appeared in front of me. His eyes were narrowed with anger, but he made no move towards me. I glared at him.

“What are you doing? You’re not supposed to be in here.” My eyes narrowed. “How did you get in here anyway?”

He stepped towards me. “Brandon, what is this? Why are you locked in this room?”

“It’s called detention, Rhao. That happened when you break the school rules.”

“Break the rules?” His head tilted to the side. “What rule did you break, Brandon?

I looked away and swallowed. “I was late.”

Silence. When I peeked at him, his face was unreadable. He stared hard at me, expression blank. My cheeks heated, and I looked away. Bad decision, because I couldn’t hold back the very unmanly squeal that came out my mouth when I was suddenly lifted.

Rhao crushed me to his chest, wrapped both his arms and wings around me. He buried his face in my hair and took a deep breath. I was frozen, shocked by the sudden contact.

“Were you waiting for me, _eyami?_ Is that why you were late?” His voice was soft and husky.

“Yes that’s why I was late, goddammit!” My voice was nearly unintelligible within its own raspy-ness. “Where the hell where—?”

Suddenly his lips crashed down onto mine, effectively cutting off whatever he was about to say. For a moment, my brain shut down and my body melted into his. I forgot how good his kisses felt. My eyes fluttered close and I let out a soft moan. When he shifted, my brain kick started back up and I pulled away, slapping him hard. It was ineffective as always, but still, it’s the thought that counts. If I tried to punch him, I’d probably break a few knuckles.  

“Goddammit Rhao! No!” I locked eyes with him. His eyes had deepened from their usual lavender-lilac to amethyst, rimming his blown pupils. The look he was giving me sent shivers down my back, but I resisted.

“What is it, _eyami?”_

“Don’t ‘eyami’, me! Whatever the hell that means!” I pushed on his shoulders to no avail. “I don’t recall ever telling you that you could just practically ignore me for a week and then suddenly decide to kiss me!”

“Brandon—.”

“I’m not done!” I cut him off easily, still pushing away from him. “Even if you weren’t avoiding me, I still never said that it was okay to suddenly kiss me! Or kiss me at all! I don’t know who you think you are, Rhao, but I do still have a girlfriend—.”

“Fuck, Brandon, just listen!” He slammed me on top of the desk, though not hard. His eyes drilled into mine. “You wanna know so bad? Then fine, I’ll tell you. You’re my—.”

He looked up suddenly. I heard it the same time he did. The sound of a key sliding into the lock. Ms. Belle was back. He gave me one more furious look and then he was gone. I sat up and slid into my chair just as Ms. Belle opened the door. She looked at me with a warm smile.

“You’re free to go, Brandon. Have a good rest of your day.”

I grabbed by backpack and stood quickly. “Thanks, Ms. B. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, Brandon. Be on time.”

“Of course.” I rushed out of the room.

When I was a good enough distance away, I slowed down and changed directions towards my locker. That’s probably where Freddie would be waiting for me, or so I hoped. I didn’t really care, as long as I didn’t run into Rhao again.

I couldn’t help the feeling that he was about to tell me I was his mate. God, my heart is still beating fast. What the hell is wrong with me? Did I want him, or did I not? My body craved him like nothing I ever felt before, and I sometimes unconsciously felt myself drawn to him, but my conscious mind denied him vehemently.        

“ _Ah~!”_

What the…? I halted and turned towards where the noise came from, then blinked. A moan…coming from the supply closet. My cheeks flushed and I cleared my throat, turning away to continue for my locker. I could see Freddie up ahead, waving and walking towards me.       

 _“Yes!_ Harder, Rick!”

Rick? Wait…was that… _Tiffany?!_ I’d recognize that squeaky ass voice of hers anywhere.

Whirling back around, I marched for the door and aimed a kick at it. The cheap wood splintered and fell under my foot easily, revealing Tiffany and Rick. Tiffany’s skirt was hitched up around her waist, her legs wrapped around Rick’s waist as he held her propped up against the wall by her thighs. They were both red and sweaty and panting. Clearly in the middle of having sex. Both of their eyes widened at the sight of me fuming in the doorway.

“What. The. _Fuck_?” I gritted out, clenching my fists.

“B-Brandon!” Tiffany said, trying in vain to pull down her skirt around Rick’s frozen arms.

“Shut the fuck up.” I growled. “I expected this from you, Tiffany, honestly. I was waiting for the day you’d dump me for one of the sons of bitches you’re fucking. But _Rick?_ You’re my fucking best friend. We fucking grew up together. What—why would you do this?”

He finally moved, shrugging as he carefully slid out of Tiffany and releasing her thighs so that she could stand up. He tucked in his stuff and pulled up his zipper, then finally looked at me calmly.

“You weren’t giving it to her man. She came askin’ for it and I gave it to her. Honestly?” He put his hands in his pockets. “We were fuckin’ before you two even got together. And we kept fuckin’ after.”

My vision went red and before I even knew what I was doing, I flew at him. I managed to get one punch in, a punch that sent him flying into the wall, before arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me into a familiarly wide chest. I growled lowly, struggling to get away.

“Let me go, Rhao.  I’m going to fucking beat his ass.”

“No.” He murmured into my ear, arms tightening. “If you try to beat him up in this state, you will only succeed in killing him with a mere few punches. Your shadow demon blood is coming through, Brandon; you need to calm down before you lose it.”

“Kill him?” I snarled. “I say good fucking riddance if I do.”

Golden white filled my vision, and I blinked in confusion for a moment, until I realized it was Rhao’s wings surrounding me.

“You say that now, _eyami,_ but what about when you calm down. For one, you will go to jail and two, you will feel extremely guilty about killing him.”

I pushed against his wings, snarling when they only gave a little. “I’ll deal with that when the time comes. For now, I’m going to kill his sorry ass.”

But he didn’t give. _“Eyami,_ please think about what you’re doing.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m thinking about it alright. I’m thinking about how exactly I’ll cause him the most pain.” I pushed his wings again.

“So you will kill him in front of a woman, and your friend.” His wings lowered slightly to reveal a pale Frederick, looking at us with wide eyes. Tiffany was whimpering in the corner, and Rick’s hard, stoic face on enraged my further.

I roared and struggled against Rhao’s grip. “I don’t care anymore! I don’t care about anything.”

“Oh?” I froze at the tone of his voice. I knew that tone. “So then, you don’t care if I do _this?”_

And then he was kissing me. It was nothing like any of the other times he kissed me. I realized then, that he was teasing me before, just trying to get a reaction. Now, he was really kissing me.

At first, I tried to resist. I used all my anger to punch and kick and scratch at him as much as possible. But he didn’t give at all; if anything, his grip on me tightened. My anger slowly began to disappear, as if he was sucking it all away. Every swipe of his tongue, every time he nipped at my lips, every time he sucked my tongue into his mouth, every time the pressure of his lips on mine changed. Before I knew it, my anger had evaporated and I was so focused on staying upright and not letting my legs crumple under me, that everything but him disappeared.

My head was beginning to feel light at the lack of air I was receiving when he finally pulled away. I sucked in two large, heaving breaths before glaring at him.

“YOU ASSHOLE—.”

He cut me off with another kiss, this one shorter, and less…stimulating. I slapped him when he pulled away, but he only grinned. I prepared to give him possibly the worst berating of his life when a choked noise caught my attention.

I turned to see Frederick, Tiffany, and Rick staring at us with wide eyes. My own eyes widened as Tiffany lifted a shaking finger.                                  

“Y-you—?”

“It’s not what you think.” I poked a finger at Rhao’s face. “It’s all him. He keeps forcing me—Freddie, tell them.”                                                  

“Uh…” He blinked slowly, his cheeks fiery red. “I, um…I have to go.”

And with that, he turned away and ran. I watched him go, my jaw dropping. That…that traitor. He was supposed to be on my side! A laugh caught my attention, and I turned back to see Rick laughing at us.

“Oh, I can’t fucking believe this. Brandon, the school’s star quarterback, nothing but a fag.”

I scowled. “I’m not. This idiot just won’t leave me alone.”

“He’s right, you know.” I looked up in surprise to see Rhao’s really serious gaze focused intently on Rick. “I’m the one clinging on to him, and I’m not going to stop either. Try to spread anything about him, and I will slowly torture you to death, do you hear me? Just _try_ it.”

Rhao held Rick’s gaze for a moment longer before he picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and started for the school front doors. I flushed and pounded on his back.

“Hey, let me down! I can fucking walk!”

“I know.” I could hear the smirk in his voice. “But I want to carry you like this.”

“Like a sack of potatoes.” I rolled my eyes. “How fucking romantic.”

I yelped when I was suddenly flipped over, looking up into Rhao’s smiling eyes. He was cradling me to his chest, making me flush even harder.

“I was being _sarcastic!”_

He smirked. “Yes, but you are right. This is much better.”

“No, it’s not.” I squirmed around. “What if someone sees us?”

“Then let them see.” He exited the building and started for his car, which was parked towards the back of the parking lot. I groaned and he looked down at me before sighing.

Next thing I knew, we were next to the car.

“Woah!” I tried to sit up, but failed as his arms tightened. “How did you—?”

“I’m not human, Brandon.” He grinned. “I can move around a lot faster.”

“Of course you can.” I grumbled. “Let me up, okay? I can’t get into the car like this.”

He carefully set me down and I made my way over to the passenger seat. I scowled as I got into the car. Why did I have to let him take me home? I could very well walk on my own. If he would let me, anyway.

“Brandon, come on, close the door and put your seat belt on.”

I flicked him off, receiving a chuckle, and slammed the car door shut. He didn’t start the car until I had my seat belt on, pealing out of the parking lot with ease. I huffed and crossed  my arms, glaring at the window. Rhao chuckled at me, but otherwise said nothing.


	6. Heart

By the time we got to my house, it was late.

Rhao had thought it was a good idea to make a pit stop for food and, while I was angry with him, I wasn’t going to deny free food. And then he thought it was an even better idea to go cruising around, even though I yelled at him about it. When I finally managed to convince him to take me home, we were an entire hour away.

Fucking bastard.

All the lights were out when we arrived, and my dad’s car was gone. He was more than likely still at work. Mom was probably sleeping, as were Alex and Andy. And Stacy more than likely wasn’t even home.

I sighed as Rhao parked and turned off the car. “You aren’t going inside with me, Rhao.”

“Ah.” He mock pouted at me. “Why not?”

“It’s late, I’m tired, and you have absolutely no reason to be in my house.”

He gave me a look. “I’m sure I could think of a few reasons off the top of my head.”

“Go home, Rhao.” I flushed at the images that popped into my head, forcing them away.

“Boo! You’re such a spoil sport.” I scowled at him and he grinned. “Alright, I’ll go home, _eyami._ Dream about me, okay?”

I scoffed, opening the car door. “As if.”

Before I could get out, his arm snaked out and pulled me back into the car. His lips were on mine before I could say something, and my mind went blank as his tongue curled on the roof of my mouth, stroking it.

When he pulled away, he looked down at me with a smoldering hot look in his eyes. “I am serious. Dream about me, _eyami.”_

“Nope.” I hopped out the car before he could grab me again.

I didn’t hear the shriek of his tires until I was inside the house, something he always did. He didn’t need to watch me so much, especially when all he did was stare at me at school.

_But he hasn’t done that all week, has he? He’s been with Visara, hasn’t he?_

Shut. Up. You stupid. Fucking. Voice.

_Just saying…_

Huffing, I quietly made my way up to my room, thanking everything I had a bathroom attached to my room. I could shower and then conk out for the night. My anger from before left me tired like nothing I ever felt before. 

I took the quickest, laziest shower of my life before slipping on a pair of boxers, and crawling into bed. I was out before my head even hit the pillow.

_A pair of rough, large hands rubbing my skin, slick with sweat. Me, arching into the touch with a gasp. Heat, sweat, and pleasure. Insurmountable pleasure._

_A low, dark chuckle, in my ear. Those hands going lower and lower, closer to where I wanted. When they finally grabbed me, I grabbed a sweat-soaked back, digging my fingers into the flesh. Body arching upwards, silent pleads spilling from my lips._

_A kiss, all consuming. Devouring. I let it eat me. I wanted more. So much more. Those hands stroked me slowly, teasing. Torturing. Please…faster…_

_A voice, bubbling in my chest, a demand attached to it. Wanting to come out. Wanting to let me out. My body tensed and my lips parted as my completion neared—_

“Rhao!” I jerked up in bed with a gasp. I was covered with sweat, my hair sticking uncomfortably to my face and neck. My boxers were sticky and clung to me. I swallowed hard, chest heaving.

What…what the hell was that? I didn’t just…have a wet dream…did I? Not when I…not when I just said _his_ name. No way.

I glanced over at my clock and groaned when I saw it was only six. I still had an hour of sleep left, and yet I knew I wasn’t going to get it. Sighing, I crawled out of bed, albeit awkwardly because of my boxers, and hobbled into my bathroom.

Turning on the sink faucet, I quickly stripped out of my boxers and washed them out before throwing them in the hamper. Then I turned on the shower and took a slower, more thorough one. But I still felt dirty, so then I filled the tub with steaming hot water and soaked until I hear my alarm go off in the bedroom.

Cursing, I quickly got out, wrapping a towel around my waist as I moved into my room and slammed a hand down on the alarm. I glanced over at my bed, and stared blankly at it. The sheets were twisted and my pillow had disappeared somewhere underneath the bed. We were on that bed…my bed…in the dream.

It…had been so _vivid._ So realistic. As if…he was really touching me. Teasing me. Kissing me.

_Maybe because you really do want him to do those things…_

Bullshit. I barely wanted him to be near me, let alone do…that. It was his fault anyway, telling me that before he left.

_“Dream about me, eyami.”_

What the hell did eyami even mean? Ugh.

I stomped over to my closet, jerking it open and staring at my clothes. Honestly? I did _not_ want to go to school today. I’d have to see Rick and Tiffany, who both were on my fucking black list, and Rhao, who I just apparently had a fucking wet dream about. And let’s not forget Frederick, who fucking ran out instead of defending me.

Ugh. These reasons are exactly why I hate Mondays. Shit like what went down yesterday happen. And then I have to come back the _next_ day, as if shit didn’t just go down? Bull. Shit.

Once again, the week passed by quickly. I started to avoid Rick and Tiffany. Well, Tiffany would flush and run whenever she saw me anyway, and I’m pretty sure it was because every time she saw me, she was reminded of the kiss Rhao gave me.

Speaking of Rhao, he was paying more attention to me. Meaning, he was back to cornering me in people-less areas and trying to get me to make out with him. Well…no, that’s not right. He was doing other things too.

Like, how since I obviously wasn’t friends with Rick anymore, and Freddie was friggin’ MIA, Rhao was keeping me company during lunch and break. Without tossing me into the bathroom for a ‘quick kiss’. At least half of the time, anyway. And once I started talking to him like…you know, like he wasn’t about to attack me or something, he turned out to be a pretty cool, funny guy. And he was a really attentive listener, sometimes to the point where the amount of attention he was paying me was unnerving.  

After that dream I had, I found my body responding more and more to his touch, no matter how much I fought and resisted against it. It got to the point where just brushing against him would send this spark of pleasure through my body. If he noticed, he didn’t really say anything, or take too much advantage of it. Maybe it was because I was still resisting him as much as I did before the dream. It was just my body reacting differently. But sometimes I could tell that he did notice something, because he would keep pushing and pushing, unlike falling back like he usually would eventually do.

I didn’t see Frederick until Friday. He didn’t look too good, all pale and with dark circles under his eyes. Something had to be on his mind, because he wasn’t getting any sleep, and it was definitely eating him up. He looked so…surprised when I approached him after school.

“Hey, man, what’s up? Where’ve you been?” I cornered him at his locker. He was one of those people who didn’t really like crowds, and he waited until when the hallway would clear up to get his things, so the hall was pretty empty, save us.

His eyes widened and he stared at me for a moment. “You mean…he didn’t tell you?”

My brow scrunched. “Who? Tell me what?”

“Rick…He didn’t…?” He blinked and then looked away with a relieved sigh. “Oh, thank god.”

“Freddie, what the hell is going on?” I grabbed his shoulder and jerked him forward, forcing him to meet my gaze. “What are you talking about?”

He licked his lips, eyes darting everywhere that wasn’t me. “P-promise me you won’t get mad, Brandon, okay? I just…I can’t have you mad at me.”

“Dude, you’re making me mad with all this weird crap you’re spouting. You got something to say, then say it.”

“Okay…” He took in a shuddering breath and locked eyes with me. “I knew about Rick and Tiffany.”

Everything froze around me and I saw red. Next thing I knew, I had Frederick by his throat against the lockers. He flinched and grabbed my hand with both of his, but was unable to pull me off.

“Bran-don…”

“You _knew?”_ I growled at him. “You knew about them, and you didn’t _tell_ me?”

“I…have a…reason. Let…me…explain…”

I huffed an angry breath and let him go. “Start talking.”

He gasped a breath. “I was going to tell you soon as I found out, but Rick stopped me. He…knew something about me that I…I didn’t want a particular someone to know, and he blackmailed me with that information. He was going to tell that person my secret, if I told you…” 

“And so you kept his secret.” I rubbed my forehead. “Dammit, Freddie.”

“I know.” He hung his head. “I’m sorry.”

“What is this…secret of yours anyway?” I put my hands on my hips. He jerked.

“Can’t tell you.”

I frowned. “Why not?”

“Because…” His breath hitched. “You are the one the secret is about…”

“Me.” I scowled. “Well, why can’t you tell me?”

“It would ruin our friendship?”

“Come on, you think I can’t handle it?”

He sighed. “It’s not that you can’t handle it. It’s just that…it would put a strain on our companionship, and I don’t want that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Freddie, just tell me what it is.”

“Brandon…”

“If you let it out, it’s sure to be a weight off your chest. I mean, come on. You’ve known me for how long?”

His brows rose. “I’ve know you long enough to know that you overanalyze everything and freak out about it. Mostly because it’s _me_ you come to when you do freak.”

“I don’t _freak.”_ I scowled.

“Yes, you do, Brandon.”

“Ugh, whatever.” I flicked a hand at him. “Just tell me. What’s the big deal?”

He closed his eyes. “Don’t regret this, Brandon. I’m telling you this now. Do not regret this.”

I grabbed his shoulders. “Dude, I promise I won’t.”

“I’m in love with you.”

“Huh?”

His eyes flashed open and he glared at me. “I’m in love with you, you stupid fucking idiot. I have been for a long fucking time.”

I let go of his shoulders and took a step back. “But…but, Freddie…you…”

He growled, and next thing I knew, I was the one shoved against the lockers. Freddie had me by my shoulders, his body pressed closely to mine. A shudder went through my body, but it wasn’t a good one. Something was nagging in the back of my head, repeatedly going _wrong, wrong, wrong._

“Don’t walk away from this, Brandon.” His voice was husky, and his eyes were alight. “I just confessed to you. Please, don’t walk away from me.”

Then he kissed me. As soon as his lips touched mine, everything went to hell.

It was so fucking wrong. It wasn’t right at all. He wasn’t the one who was supposed to do this. These lips weren’t the ones I wanted. It fucking _hurt_ to have him _touching_ me like this. I didn’t want it. My mind shouted _NO, NO, NO,_ ringing in my head. A whine came up my throat as I pushed at Frederick’s shoulders. He didn’t budge, but pressed against me harder.

_No, no, no!_

_This is wrong!_

_Wrong person!_

_Get. Him. AWAY!_

He wasn’t the one. I didn’t want him. Didn’t need him. He’s not supposed to touch me like this. I can’t having him… _doing_ this to me. It’s… _wrong._

I need…

I want…

…

_RHAO!_

A loud, menacing growl rumbled through the air and the weight on me disappeared. My knees gave and I fell to the ground, curling against the cold tile. There was a wet smack, and I looked up to see Rhao punching out Freddie the way I had wanted to do to Rick. He had a feral snarl twisting his lips, his wings flared out behind him. Freddie was saying something between punches, and it took me a moment to understand what he was saying.

“I’m…sorry…didn’t…mean to…”

My eyes widened as I realized exactly what the hell was going on. I scrambled to my feet and stumbled towards Rhao with my arms outstretched.

“Rhao, stop! Stop it.”

His fist froze right in front of Frederick’s face and he released a low, grumbling sound. “He was touching you. He was _kissing_ you. He needs to die. Now.”

I grabbed his arm and pulled. “No, Rhao. You can’t.”

He turned his blazing glare to me. “Why are you defending him?”

“Because he’s my friend Rhao, you know that.”

“So, then…” He let go of Freddie and stood up so straight that he towered over me more so than he usually did. “You’re choosing him over me.”

“What?” My eyes widened at the murderous look on his face. “What? Rhao, no! I-I’m not choosing anyone for anything. I don’t even know what you mean by that. I just don’t want you killing my friend.”

But he wasn’t listening anymore. His eyes were locked on my lips, which were more than likely swollen from the force of Freddie’s kiss. He reached up and brushed my bottom lip with his thumb, and I winced as a bit of pain sparked through my lip. Then I realized that my lip was cut, either my or Freddie’s tooth had grazed against it. Rhao’s eyes darkened and he growled.

“You are _mine.”_

Then he was grabbing me and putting me over his shoulder. With one last glare at Freddie, he was walking at a fast pace towards the front doors of the school. I looked up and locked eyes with Freddie; his were filled with regret and longing. I bit my lip and looked away.

Outside, there weren’t many students out anymore, and the ones who were still milling around paid no attention to me and Rhao. Rhao quickly approached his car, unlocking the passenger door and throwing me inside. He slammed it before I could protest, and was at the driver’s seat within seconds. I opened my mouth, but the words died on my tongue as he shot me a withering glare.

He started the car and screeched down the street. I swallowed and looked out the window, uncomfortably. The atmosphere was tense and, while I wasn’t necessarily scared of Rhao, I was most certainly intimidated, in a completely different way than I usually was. This was side of Rhao I never saw before. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

And then we were at my house. Neither of the ‘rents were home, and it was too early for any of my fellow spawns to be there. Rhao skidded to a stop and angrily yanked the keys out the ignition. I licked my lips and opened my door as he did the same. He stomped around the car, grabbed my wrist, and started pulling me towards the house. Even though he was clearly angry, his grip wasn’t painful at all, but definitely tight enough that I couldn’t get free.

At the door, he let me go and waited impatiently with his arm crossed as I dug for my keys and unlocked the door. Then he grabbed me again and dragged me up the stairs. We entered my room in the next moment, and then I was abruptly thrown on my bed.

Before I could sit up and complain, Rhao was on top of me, eyes intense as he looked down at me. His body pressed against mine and then suddenly, everything felt righted. The weird feeling I had from Freddie touching me was gone, and the raging in my head disappeared.

“How long?”

I blinked. “What?”

Rhao growled. “How long was he…kissing you?”

“I-I don’t know…A few minutes?”

A snarl ripped out his mouth, loud enough to make my chest vibrate, and his lips descended on mine. Fire immediately ignited through my body and I involuntarily moaned. My body, and my mind, was desperate to get the feel of someone other than Rhao touching me off, and I was defenseless against it. I had no time, no opportunity, to resist. I was caught up in the whirlwind of emotions, in the heat.

Rhao licked at my lips, demanding entrance, and I gladly let him in. He immediately licked the roof of my mouth and I moaned, arching up into his body. He growled in response, his arms wrapping around my waist as he held me to him. I reached up and curled my arms around his neck, my hands burying themselves in his silky hair. 

Everywhere he touched ignited a fire within me that burned hotter and hotter with each caress of his palm, his fingers. I don’t know when my shirt had came off, but it was gone and Rhao was rubbing his hands all over my chest and torso as he kissed me. One of his fingers brushed against my nipple and I cried out, the sound being swallowed immediately by Rhao. He smiled against my lips, and his finger returned, accompanied by another one as he pinched my nipple. I moaned loudly and my head flew back, detaching my lips from Rhao’s.

I thought this nipple business was girl exclusive only. No wonder they went wild, if this is what they felt every single time.

Then Rhao, no longer occupied with kissing me, began to leave wet trails down my neck and chest. I sucked in a breath as he licked the juncture between my neck and shoulders, and then slowly sunk his teeth into the area. Now both of his hands were on each of my nipples, rolling the little nubs with his palms. My mind clouded in a haze of pleasure as my senses were overloaded.

Rhao finally stopped torturing my nipples and returned to sliding his hands up and down my body. He started planting open, wet kisses along my chest. A shock went through me when he kissed my nipple and I bit my lip against the moan that threatened to come out.

He tsked and came back up, putting his lips to my ear. “Don’t hold it back, Brandon. Let it out. I want to hear you.”

I shuddered as he licked the shell of my ear, and he chuckled. The sound was low and dark, sending waves of heat down my body. His hands moved downward, till they brushed against the hem of my jeans. At first he teased me, chuckling every time I let out a sound when he got _so close._ Then he finally unbuttoned my jeans and slipped a hand inside, griping me. I screamed and arched off the bed, pressing my body hard into his.  

‘Rhao.’ I wanted to say, but while my lips moved, no sound came out. He understood anyway, and I found his lips on mine.

Slowly, so _fucking_ slowly, he stroked me. His tongue moved against mine at the same pace, causing my breath to stutter and my body tense. Then he broke the kiss, leaning up to look down at me, even as his hand kept moving. I met his dark purple gaze, my chest touching his with each heaved breath I let out. His eyes were heavy-lidded, and I could barely see any purple between his thick lashes, but it was fine. It was perfect.

My stomach tensed as a thick, coiling heat built up and I gasped. Rhao smirked slightly and came back down to kiss me again. His other hand, the one not stroking me, returned to my nipple. I cried out at the touch, my hips jerking forward. My lips moved against his, more silent pleads.

_Faster, faster, please, faster…_

And as if he understood, Rhao’s hand began to move faster. I groaned into his mouth, clutching him tightly as my hips moved with his hand motions. I was _so close._ Just a little bit more…I need this, please. Then Rhao’s tongue pressed against the roof of my mouth and I lost it. All I saw was white. Distinctly, I realized I was quite loudly yelling something, but I wasn’t sure what. It might have been Rhao’s name. I didn’t care what it was. I was gone.

When I finally came down from my high, Rhao had taken my jeans completely off, wiped the cum from my briefs and my stomach, and had us both under the blanket. His arms were wrapped around me, as were his wings, and my head was pillowed against his chest. I sighed and snuggled further into his chest—it was strangely comfortable—as exhaustion swept over me. I was ready to knock out, but Rhao called my name just before I could fall asleep.

“Brandon?” His voice was hesitant.

“Hmm?” I grunted.

“Can…can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.” I mumbled into his chest.

His arms tightened around me, and he buried his face into my hair. He didn’t say anything right away, but just held me. I was back on my way to sleepy time land when he spoke again.

“…”

My brow furrowed. “Wha—?”

He pulled his face from my hair. “I said, is—is it…okay…if I…love…you?”

But I couldn’t respond as sleep dragged me over.


	7. My Feelings, Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot to update last weekend, and so I'm doing it now :) so for the late update. And...I possibly might not be updating this weekend...so yeah...ENJOY!

I woke up to warmth surrounding me, and the feeling of soft kisses being pressed to the back of my neck. My first thought was that it was Tiffany, but my mind helpfully provided an image of her and Rick fucking in the janitor’s closet. A growl slipped out my throat as I tensed. The kissing stopped, but the lips stayed pressed against my skin. They moved.

“Brandon?”

A deep, rumbling, completely familiar voice. Rhao. I opened my eyes and blinked. I was on my bed, with Rhao’s arms and wings wrapped around me. Memories of yesterday pushed to the front of my mind and I flushed, ripping myself from Rhao’s arms and standing in front of the bed.

Rhao sighed and sat up, lazily brushing his hair back as pulled one knee to his chest. He wasn’t wearing a shirt anymore—he must’ve taken it off when I was asleep—and my eyes followed the movements of his muscles without my permission. I blinked and forced myself looked away, biting my lip as heat immediately pooled in my lower belly.

“Brandon…” He sighed when I didn’t turn. “Look at me Brandon.”

I bit my lip harder as I glanced at him, then away. He growled and suddenly was in front of me, eyes narrowed as he looked down at me. My body unconsciously arched closer to him, craving the touch of his bare, warm skin on mine. I swallowed and forcibly pulled myself away. He sighed again.

“Brandon…I know you’re probably really confused right now—.”

“Confused?” I scoffed. “I’m not confused about anything. I understand what I’m feeling perfectly.”

He was silent for a moment. Then—“Do you…regret last night?” 

Finally, I looked up and met his gaze. His eyes were hesitant, face drawn in. My heart thumped against my chest painfully and I swallowed hard.

“Rhao…” I looked away. “Honestly, I feel a lot of things about last night. Confusion or regret isn’t any of them. It was…I really…it felt really good. But it was like…my body had a mind of its own….”

“Yeah?” He let out a deep sigh of relief at my nod. “Good. I…I was scared that I would lose you because of what we did last night.”

My brow furrowed. “Why?”

He was hesitant again, licking his lips as he looked away from me. “Yeah…about that, Brandon…”

Is he…going to tell me? Finally? My eyes widened and my breath hitched, preventing me from saying anything.

“Brandon…” He pushed out through gritted teeth, still not looking at me. “I just want you to know that I am completely serious about what I’m going to tell you right now.”

I nodded, still unable to speak. Even though he wasn’t looking at me, I knew that he knew that I nodded, because his shoulders relaxed almost immediately. He took a deep breath, finally looking at me. His eyes were open, vulnerable. This was the same look he had last time he was in my room. I still don’t know what set him off before, but I knew exactly why this time. He was afraid of me rejecting him. I heard that AH’s couldn’t live without their mates. What if…it’s true?

Rhao might’ve been an obnoxious, cocky bastard who didn’t understand that no means no, but I didn’t want him to die. My heart stopped and twisted painfully just at the thought of him, dead.

A strange feeling built up in my gut and I felt inclined to follow it. Before I realized what was happening, I was flying into Rhao, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my face in his chest. His arms and wings wrapped around me automatically, even as the rest of his body tensed in surprise. I shuddered at the feel of his skin on mine, his body heat surrounding me, his scent comforting me.

“B-Brandon?”

I clutched him tighter. “W-what ever it is you have to tell me…I-it’s okay, Rhao. It’s okay.”

He tensed further, his voice quiet and hard as he spoke. “You…know already…don’t you?”

“Yes.” I couldn’t lie to him. “I worked it all out with Frederick.”

Suddenly, I was whirled around and pushed roughly into the bed. Rhao pulled himself out of my arms to lean over me, glaring down at me with a furious expression. I swallowed hard.

“You _knew?”_ He hissed. “You knew, and you didn’t say anything? You…you continued to _resist_ me?”

“I—.”

“And that fucker knew too? And he _still_ went and kissed you?” He growled viciously. “I’ll fucking kill him.”

“Rhao—.”

“Are you trying to fuck around with my emotions, Brandon? Do you want me to be all fucked up in the head from confusion?” His eyes widened and he pushed away from me, moving across to the other side of the room in a blink of eye. “You…”

I quickly sat up, abruptly feeling cold without his touch. “Rhao—.”

His chest heaved as he pointed at me. “You’re rejecting me, aren’t you?”

A bolt of pain went through my body, forcing me to move across the room to him and grab his shoulders tightly. His eyes widened as I stood on my tippy toes to get straight in his face.

“If you would just shut the fuck up and listen to me, you would’ve known that I wasn’t going to do that.” I growled. “I just fucking told you that it was okay, Rhao. I don’t…being your mate…it doesn’t bother me…not that much anyways…”

The burning anger I felt a moment ago disappeared as embarrassment took over. I let go of his shoulders and took a couple of steps back, a blush crawling up my cheeks. It was silent as Rhao stared at me. I could feel his gaze. Every time he was looking at me, I could feel it.

He kept staring at me, for so long that I began to feel really uncomfortable, shifting around and looking at everything but him. The silence stretched, further and further. I jumped when he finally spoke.

“ _Eyami…”_ His voice was soft and warm. I didn’t look at him, and therefore didn’t expect it when suddenly, his arms wrapped around my waist. “ _Eyami…”_

“What, Rhao?” I snapped at him, trying hard to stay composed. It was a losing battle, as just the feel of his arms around me had shocks of pleasure running through my body.

“Will you repeat that for me?” He whispered into my ear, causing me to shiver slightly.

“What?” I was breathless.

He chuckled, obviously well aware of what he was doing to me, and kissed the side of my neck. “You know what, _eyami.”_

“No, I don’t.” I crossed my arms as a blush burned my cheeks.

“But you do.” He held me tighter. “Please say it again. If not for me, then for my sanity, please.”

I looked down. “Rhao…”

 _“Please,_ Brandon.”

“Rhao…” I sighed. “I don’t…I don’t mind being your mate.”

His arms suddenly tightened around me and I was spun around. He looked down at me with a wide smile, his eyes sparkling purple and a dark, dark blue I never noticed before. I really don’t think there was ever any blue…his eyes were too bright of a purple to miss it any time before…




All my thoughts went out the window as he leant forward and kissed me. Unlike any time before, with the exception of yesterday, I had not even the slightest inclination of stopping him. I don’t know what made me resist before, but now the thought of resisting him was simply ludicrous. I didn’t want to fight him. I _wanted_ this. I wanted _him._

I knew he could tell that something was different, because he smiled against my lips. His arms flexed and my feet were suddenly dangling in the air, my chest, torso, hips and thighs pressed flushed against Rhao. My cheeks heated at the feeling of his hardness pressing into me, and at the same time, my own lower body was responding.

Both Rhao and I moaned when I shifted, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist, so that our body parts were almost perfectly aligned and the bulge in his pants rubbed against mine. He kissed me harder and began to walk forwards until his knees crashed into the bed, and then he bent down so that my back was on the mattress.

In order to move into a more comfortable position, I had to move backwards and break the kiss. But soon as I did that, Rhao growled and pushed forward to reconnect or lips, crawling after me on his hands and knees as I continued to scoot backwards. Then we were on my pillows, and Rhao’s entire body length with pressed against me, pushing into the mattress. I was a dominate guy, and so usually positions like this bothered me, but with Rhao it couldn’t be any hotter.

He pulled away and licked his lips, looking down at me. “Fuck, you are so fucking beautiful.”

My eyes widened and I flushed. “Wha—? Don’t say stuff like that. I’m a guy, Rhao.”

“I know that.” He chuckled, then reached up to caress my face. “But it’s true. You are a true work of art.”

I scowled. “Shut up and kiss me again.”

A smirk pulled at his lips as he complied.

~oOo~

**_Frederick_ **

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I grabbed handfuls of my hair and pulled, hard. How could I _do_ that to my fucking friend? Brandon probably hated me now.

I looked up and stopped walking when I realized I was in the park. How I walked here without noticing was way over my head, but I found myself not caring. The park was empty, of which I was thankful for. I went over to one of the benches and slumped into it, dropping my head between my knees and closing my eyes. Pathetic. That’s what I am. Completely, and utterly, pathetic. I would be so surprised if Brandon even found it in himself to look at me.

“I want to die.” I whimpered, grabbing fistfuls of my hair again.

“Now why would you want that?” A sort of melodic voice said.

My eyes snapped open and locked with bright red ones. There was only one person I knew with eyes such a color. Eoin. The guy who has been stalking me. I scowled and looked away.

“What I do with my life is my choice.”

He shifted, moving out of his crouch to sit beside me on the bench. Out of nowhere he pulled out a first aid kit and grabbed my chin so that I was facing him. I tried to pull out of his grasp, but it was firm and kept my still. With his other hand, he dug for an antiseptic wipe and opened it to gently press it against my face. I’d forgotten Rhao had beaten the shit out of me. I was so focused on what I did to Brandon…and plus my face was pretty numb so I couldn’t really feel anything.  

“Would you still consider killing yourself if you knew that someone else’s life force was tied to your own?” Eoin said, his gaze focused on my face. “That as soon as you perished, so would another?”

I snorted. “The only way that would be possible was if I had a mate, and Fate is too cruel of a person to give me that one allowance.”

“Are you sure about that? Everyone is born with a mate, Frederick. Whether or not you find them is another story, but you should know that you do have one. Since the day of your birth, your soul was tied to another.”

“I had a crush on Brandon, you know? I used to think that…if I just confessed to him, we could be together. He always looked miserable, soon as he started dating Tiffany. I thought he was an in-the-closet, using her so that no one would guess. And he always seemed to have so much more fun with me than he ever did with Rick, who was supposed to be his best friend. I really thought that he would consider dating me…And then…” My brow furrowed.

Eoin’s cool fingers smoothed across my cheek as he applied some type of salve to the cuts and bruises. “And then what, Brandon? Tell me.”

I didn’t even know _why_ I was telling him anything in the first place. Too late to go back now, however. “You guys showed up. Or, more specifically, Rhao. From day one, he was always what was on Brandon’s mind. I knew immediately that Brandon was Rhao’s mate from the way he described Rhao’s actions. And in an irrational moment, I ended up telling Brandon that. Worst mistake of my life. Just _knowing_ that begins the process of acceptance, and knowing Brandon…Well, I knew there were only two things preventing him from letting Rhao do as he liked. One, not knowing anything about Rhao, and two, Tiffany.”

“Brandon’s girlfriend, right?” The first aid kit was gone, and all of Eoin’s attention was on me.

It kind of reminded me of Brandon, how we used to sit together and just talk. He liked to listen to what people said and no matter what you said, he wouldn’t judge you for it. Not much, anyways. Sometimes he couldn’t help but analyze the situation.

“Ex. He caught her and Rick having sex in the janitors closet last week.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” I snorted. “And I had ran off like a little punk after I saw Rhao kiss Brandon. Didn’t go to school for a week. I came back and…and he and Rhao were all buddy-buddy. I knew then that as soon as Rhao told him, I’d lose Brandon forever. I would no longer have a chance with him. There was nothing stopping him from being with Rhao. And I guess…I guess when Brandon approached me after school, just the notion of losing him made something in me snap. I told him how I felt about him and then…then I forced myself on him. _God,_ how fucking _stupid_ of me.”

Eoin’s eyes widened and his brow furrowed. “Frederick…you do know what…Brandon is, right?”

I blinked. “He’s…human?”

The darkening of Eoin’s eyes told me otherwise. “No, Frederick. His blood comes from the line of the strongest shadow demons in the world.”

My eyes widened. “But…he’s human. His blood tested positive.”

“The blood is diluted. The last generation of shadow demons in his blood comes from his great, great, great grandmother. Four generations of human women in his family made his blood thin, but he still shows the characteristics. His voice, his uncanny accuracy, his speed, and…his mate.”

“His mate…?”

“Rhao is Brandon’s mate just as much as he is Rhao’s.” Eoin bit his lip. “Do you know what that means, Frederick?”

“Since the first time Rhao kissed him…” I whispered. “They were bonded. And so…when I kissed him…”

“You were literally causing him physical pain.” Eoin also whispered. “You were pushing him even closer to Rhao. The shadow demon in him probably went berserk. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are mated by now.”

I dropped my head and clenched my fists to stop the shaking. “Dammit.”

Slightly cold fingers touched my cheek, brushing my hair back. I looked up at Eoin to find him gazing at me with soft, warm eyes. When I first saw him, I always that he would be cold and kind of antisocial, but seeing him now…he was just so kind and open. He was a lot like Brandon…but at the same time he wasn’t.

“Frederick, don’t give up.” He said. “There is someone out there for you.”

“How…how could you know?”

He smiled softly, his entire face lighting up. “Because he’s right in front of you.

And then he kissed me.

~oOo~

**_Brandon_ **

We were curled up on my bed later in the afternoon, watching whatever was on television, which happened to be some movie at the moment. No one was home, not that that was ever unusual. Turns out everyone was gone before I even woke up this morning. And given that it was Saturday, that meant that no one was coming home until late that night, if they decided _to_ come home anyway.

Rhao was…well, happy I guess. He seemed…different. Content. Peaceful. He wasn’t attacking me every five seconds, which was a plus. I guess he didn’t need to, now that he had me. God, that sounded so weird. After all that resistance and now…now I was cuddling with him in my room. I never cuddled with anyone in my life.

“ _Eyami…”_ He suddenly kissed the side of my neck, making me jump. “You’re not watching the movie. Do you not like it?”

“No.” I looked back, towards him. “I just got a little…distracted, I guess.”

He leaned forward to look down at me. “About what?”

“Like…” I shrugged, not wanting to tell him my thoughts in fear of embarrassing myself to him. “What does eyami mean?”

“ _Eyami?”_ He blinked at me. “What it means?”

“Yeah.”

He looked away, red crawling up his cheeks. “Well, it means…the closest translation to English I can come up with is…well…my love…my heart…my everything…my forever. But it means so much more.”

“Really?” My own cheeks heated.

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” I turned back towards the television, so that he couldn’t see the horrible blush that took up my whole face. Jesus, could he be any more embarrassing? Going around, calling me ‘my love’ and all that. Jeez…

“Does that…bother you?” His voice was hesitant.

I swallowed. “N-no. Not really. I mean…I’m already used to it.”

“Oh.” He went quiet.

This was so awkward.


	8. I Don't Share

“Rhao?” I asked nervously. I sat up from my spot cuddled in his arms and looked down at him. It was now Sunday, and I was dreading having to go back to school tomorrow. Mainly because I didn’t want to have a confrontation with Freddie. Which is why I had to do this.

He arched a lazy brow. “Brandon?”

“Um…you do know that I…have to go see Frederick, right?” I cringed.

Immediately he stiffened and sat up, causing me to slide off of him. “ _Him?_ Why?”

“Because,” I sat up. “He’s the only friend I have left. Yes, I know I have you, Rhao, but having a mate and having a friend are two different things.”

“I don’t see how.” Rhao crossed his arms stubbornly.

I rolled my eyes. “Can you honestly say that we could study together without you jumping and distracting me?”

A vein in his jaw twitched.

“Can we go somewhere to hang out and talk without you attacking me and pulling me into a dark corner for a ‘quick kiss’?”

His eyes narrowed.

“Can we eat together without you giving me hot looks majority of the time, or somehow making the situation sexual?”

“Okay, I _get it.”_ He snapped, uncrossing his arms. “But does it have to be _him_? Can’t you go make new friends, or something?”

I looked at him incredulously. “It’s senior year, who the hell am I going to find to be a trustworthy friend that I can depend on?”

He huffed and crossed his arms again. “I dunno, go find someone.”

“Rhao.” I growled, glaring at him.

Another huff. “I don’t like him.”

“Stop being a baby.”

“I’m not being a baby. He molested you!”

“You are too being a baby! It was a onetime thing. Come Rhao, trust me.”

He locked eyes with me. “I do trust you, _eyami._ It’s him I don’t trust. I don’t like him. In fact, I don’t think I ever did.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. You never had an opinion on Freddie. It was always Rick you never liked.”

“Not true.”

“Is too!”

“What does it matter?! You’re not staying here long anyway!” He shouted, throwing his arms in the air with a snarl.

I stiffened and my eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about Rhao?”

Suddenly, he looked contrite. “Right…I have to talk to you about that…”

“So talk.” I scooted away from him and crossed my arms, giving him a hard look.

He groaned. “Come on, Brandon, don’t be like that.”

“Like what, Rhao? I’m simply waiting for you to tell me why I am apparently leaving soon. I mean, it’s not like I have a life here or anything.”

Yes, I knew I was acting like the childish one now, but I was surprised as hell. 

His expression fell and he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Look, there are a…few things I haven’t…properly told you yet.”

“Obviously.”

“Brandon, please stop. This is hard enough to explain without you adding extras.” He gave me a look and I nodded. “Well, first and foremost…I’m not the average…whatever the hell it is you guys call us.”

“Angulus Humanaes?” I frowned. “What do you mean, not the average?”

He winced. “I mean…I’m kind of like the…prince?”

I blinked. And then blinked again. My brain kind of just melted a little. “Wait, did you say _prince?!”_

“Um, yeah?”

“I’m mated to a _prince?_ Oh, hell no!” I crawled out of bed quickly and backed away. “Fuck, Rhao why didn’t you tell me something like this. Oh, fuck I’m freaking out.”

“It’s not as bad as it seems, Brandon.” He followed after me, grabbing my hands and pulling me closer to him. “Don’t freak out, it’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad?” I snorted. “Rhao, look at me. I’m just some plebian human kid who freaks out about _everything._ How can you tell me it’s not that bad?”

He chuckled. “Brandon, you’re not some plebian human kid. Those of royalty blood have different mating rules to the others. We cannot mate to someone who is not of equal status as ours. I know about your shadow demon heritage, of your however many great-grandmother. Your bloodline belongs to that of the line of the strongest shadow demons in the world. Your shadow demon grandmother, Nati, is a very influential person throughout all the races.”

My eyes widened. “R-really?”

“Yeah.” He smirked and pulled me closer, wrapping me in his arms and wings. “You, Brandon, are not a plebian human kid. It’s obvious that you’re strong, given that even though your blood is diluted enough to test human positive, you still show shadow demon characteristics.”

I sighed in relief. Then I glared at him. “You still haven’t told me why I have to leave.”

“Brandon…” He rolled his eyes. “I’m the prince, the heir. I can’t just…up and leave my kingdom. I have to return, by the end of the school year. That was the amount of time granted to me to go find my mate.”

“Wait, what?” Oh, jeez this is too much at once.

He bit his lip. “Yeah…see, I’m kind of betrothed to…Visara?”

Hot rage built in my chest and I shoved Rhao away from me. What? Betrothed? To _Visara?_ What bullshit is this? I glared down at him.

“What the fuck are you talking about, Rhao Y’mei?” I seethed.

His Adam’s apple bobbed with his hard swallow. “Here me out, Brandon, please. Because of the different mating rules royals have, it’s considerably harder for one of us to find our mates compared to a normal person. Trying to find your other half who is of equal status as you are is hard, especially when you’re the prince. It’s a matter of kingdoms and loyalties and treaties and allies, and all other kinds of things. Typically, a royal would live their life and die without anyone by their side, and the crown would get passed around a lot. To stop this, it was declared that, at birth, a royal would be betrothed to one of acceptable status. If the royal manages to find their mate before the date of marriage of the betrothal, then it’s off.”

My eyes narrowed. “So your betrothal with Visara is going to be canceled.”

Well that certainly didn’t come out as a question, like how I thought it would. Rhao answered anyway, giving me an arched brow. I would’ve blushed if I weren’t so pissed.

“Yes. Which is why I need you to come _with_ me back home. You’re my mate, you have to be at my side. Otherwise, the Council is not going to believe me. They were skeptical enough when they sent me out. Royals are not supposed to leave the kingdom unless on business, another thing that prevents one from finding their mate. I had to appeal to the Council to let me out, to find you.” He rolled his eyes. “With guards, of course.”

“How did you even know you were going to find me, Rhao?” I shook my head. “Why take that chance? If you hadn’t found me…if I hadn’t accepted you…”

He smirked. “I was passing through an area to get to the incubi village not too far from here on business when I felt the pull. I told the Council this and, though they weren’t keen on believing me, they allowed me to come here, to enroll in school. They were going to give me the end of the school year to have found my mate. Yeah, I was taking a chance, but it was in my favor. I _knew_ my mate was here. I knew _you_ were here. The others are just here to guard me and report any progress. And Visara…just does what she wants.”

I flushed in embarrassment. “Oh…sorry for…blowing up on you.”

“All within reason.” He came towards me again and I let him wrap his arms around my waist. “I still don’t want you going over to Frederick’s.”

“He’s my friend, Rhao!” I whined. “I don’t want to have to wait until tomorrow to confront him, not in front of the whole school.”

“Then don’t.” He said simply. “Just go to school tomorrow and act as if nothing happened.”

“I can’t do that!”

“Sure you can.” His arms tightened around my waist and he buried his face in the crook of my neck. “If not, then you better plan something, because I’m not letting you go over there. I don’t share my things, Brandon.”

I scowled. “I’m not a thing.”  

He pulled back and pecked my lips. “Sure you are. You’re my thing. My plaything.”

“Rhao!”

“Kidding, kidding.” He chuckled. “You’re so defensive all the time. Chill out.”

“You just called me a thing.”

“My thing.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah, but I’m _your_ idiot.”

~oOo~

Monday came and I was tenser than a nun in a brothel. Rhao tried to soothe me as he drove, but all he did was make it worse. I was _never_ normal in front of Frederick, so how the hell was I supposed to act now? Just like, say hi and go on about my business?

…Okay, maybe that would work.

But what if he’s the awkward one about all this. And Rhao’s still being a baby about me being near him, so this idiot might just flip out and cause a scene. Oh God, imagine everyone found out? I’d be so dead. Mom will have my ass on a silver friggin’ platter.

“Stop freaking out, Brandon.” Rhao said as we pulled into the school parking lot.

“I can’t help it.” I snapped back. “If you had just let me go to Freddie’s yesterday—.”

He tensed. “I wasn’t going to do that. Just a few fucking days ago he sexually harassed you, Brandon. Friend or not, he did something you didn’t want and continued as you struggled and fought against him. You should be happy I didn’t fucking kill him like I wanted to. I was within my rights to do so as your mate, you know.”

“He’s my friend.” I said weakly, shrinking away from him. He was so angry that he was shaking, his hands tightly holding onto the steering wheel, so tight that his knuckles turned white. “The only friend I have left. And I know him. He was acting out of character. He probably regrets it a lot. And is probably mentally beating himself up for doing it.”

Suddenly, Rhao had his arms around me. I could still that he was angry by the tension that vibrated through his body, but he held me gently. He probably noticed that I had moved away from him.

“I know, Brandon. Dammit, I know. I just can’t help it. If I were any later…if I hadn’t made it on time…I would’ve lost you forever. And that fucking terrifies me. I need you, _eyami,_ so badly.”

I could feel my expression soften as I put my hands on his back, rubbing right between his wings. “It’s gonna be okay Rhao. Frederick is smart. He won’t do something like that again.”

“Okay…” His body shuddered. “Okay, okay.”

“Oh, _now_ you agree.” I snorted playfully. He growled and bit my shoulder lightly. “Hey!”

“Come on.” He pulled away and opened his car door. “We gotta go before the bell rings. You can talk to Frederick at lunch.”

My body relaxed and I nodded frantically. "Right. Lunch. I can do that."

Rhao laughed and shook his head, getting out of the car. I frowned and did the same, waiting until he locked the doors so that we could walk inside together.

"What?" I asked once he joined me.

He laughed again. "Nothing,  _eyami,_ you're just adorable."

I flushed. "I am not  _adorable_."

"Okay then." He smirked.

"You're still thinking it!" I glared at him.

"I sure as hell am." He nudged me into my seat when we entered class, taking the one next to me, where Rick used to sit.

The bell rang before I could respond, and Mrs. Bell strode in. I settled with shooting him a glare before sitting back in my seat with plans on ignoring him.

Lunch came a lot faster than a thought it would. Rhao pestered me through all the classes we had together, which succeeded in taking up most of my attention and causing the time to pass by faster. Then the bell rang for lunch and I froze in my seat. Rhao didn't have this class with me, and usually met up with me at our table. Therefore, he was not here to calm me down. I was so fucked.

"I figured this would happen." I blinked and looked up to see Rhao smirking down at me, standing next to my desk.

"Oh, my God Rhao." I leapt out of my seat and wrapped my arms around his neck. Luckily, everyone had left the class to go to lunch. Not that I would've cared at that moment, my relief being that great.

His arms automatically went around my waist, though he froze in surprise. "Whoa, okay calm down."

"I do  _not_ want to go to lunch."

A chuckle rumbled against my ear that was pressed against his chest. "I don't understand why. You can do this, Brandon. Come on, you got me cheering you on."

" _So?"_  I pouted, moving my head to put my chin on his chest and look up at him. When all else fails, go for the baby face. 

He leaned down, pecked my lips, and then began to drag me out of the room. Obviously, my plans failed horribly. Note to self: baby face does not work on Rhao. Have to find what does. 

I didn't resist, knowing it was useless, but complained all the way to the cafeteria. No one was in the halls, so I wasn't bothered by him carrying me. He probably wouldn't of cared if there were people in the hall. I had to learn that the hard way. He let go when we neared the doors to the cafeteria and gave me a look. 

"Go in there, get your lunch, and go sit next to Frederick. Say hi, smile, start a conversation. Stop being weird."

"You're going to stay with me right, Rhao?"

"Yes,  _eyami."_ He rolled his eyes. 

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. "Okay. I can do this. Let's go."

He smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and gestured towards the doors with a nod of his head. I bit my lip and went inside. For a second, I froze up, but Rhao nudged me gently towards the lunch line. It was pretty short, since we were more than a few minutes late to lunch and most people were already finishing up. My stomach twisted and I felt a little nauseous, but Rhao would fuss if I didn't eat, so I grabbed an apple and one of the sandwiches that was left. 

There was a quick moment of panic when I froze up, but Rhao grabbed my shoulder and started pulling me towards our table. I shot him a glare. Before he was adamant about me being nowhere near Frederick, but I had to go and fucking convince him that it was okay. Maybe if I hadn't, he would've helped me avoid Frederick. God I hate myself right now.

I saw the others already over there and eating when we got closer. Rick and Tiffany didn't sit there anymore, but Hunen and Lin still did. Before, I had been a bit confused about why they still sat with us because they were both more friends with Rick than they were with me. But now, I knew that they were Rhao's guards and them sitting with us made a considerable lot more sense. I was surprised to see Eoin sitting next to Freddie, smiling and talking with him. Last I knew, Eoin was still stalking Frederick along with Beni, but apparently they were cool with each other now. Interesting. I wonder...

We got closer and I took a deep breath as everyone turned to look at us. Hunen and Lin had knowing looks on their faces as they looked up at Rhao, and I glanced at him just in time to catch him smirk back at them. I scowled and elbowed him in his side. He grimaced briefly, then smiled down at me. I rolled my eyes and sat down. Eoin arched a brow at me. 

"I see you two worked out your...differences." He said impassively. 

Rhao snorted. "Oh yeah. We  _definitely_ worked out our differences." 

His tone implied something else, causing me to flush darkly and shoot him a glare. “Shut _up,_ Rhao.”

He gave me a faux innocent look. “What?”

My eyes narrowed. “You know what.”

“I’m afraid I don’t.”

I growled, but blinked in surprise when I heard a laugh. Eoin winked at me when I turned towards him.

“You two make a cute couple.”

Once again, I flushed darkly and Rhao snorted. Then I had to push him away when he tried to scoot closer to me, giving him a look. He pouted for a moment, then his whole face lit up as a devious smirk stretched across his lips. A shiver went down my back and I scooted away from him, closer to Hunen who was sitting on my other side. My gaze snapped to his and I gave him a pleading look.

“Help. Me. _Please_.”

Hunen merely shrugged, an amused grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. “Sorry, no can do.”

“What?” I gave him a glare, but Rhao came out of nowhere and began to tickle me. My eyes widened and I slapped a hand over my mouth to keep in the shriek that almost came out.

I _hate_ being tickled. Rhao was going to have to learn that.

My eyes narrowed and, even as my body wriggled uncontrollably and giggles slipped out of my mouth, I raised my foot and kicked him right in the chest. He slid away from me, his eyes widening in incredulity as he looked at me. I relaxed and gave him a glare.

“Tickle me and die, Y’mei.”

He arched a brow. “Is that a challenge?”

“No, it’s a warning.”

“Oh ho!” He smirked. “We’ll see about that.”

“No, we won’t.” I growled. “I hate being tickled.”

“I see why.” Eoin snickered, catching my attention. “Those were some pretty unmanly noises you made just now, Brandon.”

Rhao’s smirk widened. “Those aren’t the only unmanly sounds he—.”

This time my kick was aimed a considerable amount lower. Rhao whimpered, dropping his head to the table as he grabbed himself. I smirked at him and crossed my arms.

“That was a pretty unmanly sound of you to make, Rhao.”

“Why?” He whined. “I _need_ these. Why would you aim there?”

“I wouldn’t have if you had stopped.”

He groaned. “I think I need some ice.”

Before I could respond, the bell rang. I then realized that I hadn’t said a word to Frederick the whole time I was sitting there. Neither did he. I blinked and looked up as he and Eoin stood with their trays and left, Eoin pausing to send me a wink before continuing on. Hunen and Lin also left, the two of them laughing as they patted Rhao on the back. He merely groaned and screwed his eyes shut.

I began to feel guilty, which kept my glued to my seat beside him as the cafeteria quickly cleared. He didn’t even make an attempt to get up. My guilt increasing, I scooted closer to him and put my hand on his back.

“Rhao?”

“You owe me for this.” He growled, his voice muffled by the table. “Tonight. I’m going to show you _exactly_ why I need this body part of mine that you felt obligated to abuse.”

A flash of heat went through me, and I swallowed. “Well, save it for tonight. We have to get to class.”

“Fuck that.” He sat up. “I am in no condition to sit in class with my balls throbbing with pain. I’m going to my apartment. And you’re coming with me.”

My eyes widened. “No I’m not. I’m going to class.”

“Save it.” He grunted as he stood, pulling me up along with him. I resisted as he began to tug me out of the cafeteria.

“Rhao! Seriously. My mom would kill me if I ditch school. And then my dad will bring me back to life and kill me again.”

“Then you just won’t be going home tonight, are you?”

“That’s even worse!” I ripped my arm from his grip, but he merely scooped me up into his arms and continued down the hall. “Rhao!”

He smirked down at me. “Regretting kicking me in the balls yet?”

I glared at him. “No. Now put me down and let me go to class.”

“No can do, _eyami.”_ We exited the school and Rhao started for his car. “You’ve never seen my apartment, and yet I just spent the weekend at your house. That’s not fair, now is it?”

“We can go to your apartment _after_ school ends.” I crossed my arms and glared at him as he dumped me into the passenger seat and buckled me in.

In a flash, he was in the driver’s seat, starting up his car. “Too late.”

“Ugh!”


	9. Confrontations

“I told you, Brandon.” Rhao called. “I told you at lunch. Now come out of there.”

I paced in the bathroom of his apartment—his very nice bathroom and apartment—frantically trying to think of a way to get out of this. “I’m not ready!”

“Stop lying to yourself!” He responded in an amused tone. 

Funny thing is, I was lying to myself. My half-naked state protested to that. I was quite enjoying, more than ready, what he was doing to me. Until I realized he was trying to seduce me, anyway. I was not going to let our first time be because he was trying to get revenge against me for earlier today. 

Oh God. When have I been so sentimental? Sex is sex. 

And yet, you’re still in the bathroom…

I am not in the mood for you, stupid voice person.

It’s okay, Brandon. It’s just because you’re a shadow demon. You guys tend to be on the more emotional side, even if you’re all badass killers.

What? I froze. Since when did that voice start giving me advice.

Since you got your head out of your ass and mated with the prince. Now, I have permission to talk to you.

Permission? Wait…

“You’re a real person?!” I hissed quietly, knowing Rhao was just on the other side and could possibly hear me with his freaky good hearing. 

There was an amused chuckle. “Yes, Brandon. I am not your libido. We will meet soon, so I will talk to you then. You better say something to Rhao, he’s ready to break the door down because he thinks something happened to you.”

Shit!

“Rhao?”

“Brandon?” I could hear the relief in his voice. “I’ve been calling your name, why didn’t you respond?”

Biting my lip, I opened the door. “Sorry. I was…thinking.”

He wrapped me tightly in his arms. “You scared me. I don’t know why, I mean you were in my bathroom, but shit. Don’t…don’t do something like that again, okay?”

“Hmm.” I snuggled into his chest, loving the way I fit to his body. Why the hell did it take me so long to realize that this was what I needed? 

Maybe I did know on a subconscious level, which was what drew me to Rhao in the first place. Maybe I tried to find this with Tiffany. It certainly explained why I had suddenly felt the urge for us to be cupcakey this year, like how we were in the beginning of our relationship. Everything had just turned to meeting up for sex and I didn’t want that. I wanted…

Well…I wanted Rhao. He was…great. No other way to put it. He wasn’t perfect, even the part of my mind that goes ‘mate crazy’ realizes this, but he was close. He was…everything I wanted in a relationship. 

Even though we had a rocky start, everything just gets better every day. And I know we’ve only been official mates for, what—three days? But…I don’t know…it just feels like I’ve known him for years, like we’ve been together for years. Is that what it’s like for mates, or is that just purely Rhao? I hope so. I didn’t want to feel like I was forced to care about him. 

But really, I knew that wasn’t truthful either. Rhao had been growing on me long before I recognized him as my mate. Hell, even before the incident with Rick and Tiffany, which had inevitably caused me and Rhao to grow closer. He was the only one there for me for an entire week, keeping the dark thoughts away and just simply…being there. Being my friend. 

He was considerate as hell during that time. So much so that he jumped me even less than before. He listened to what I had to say, and he talked when I had nothing to say but didn’t want to get immersed in my own thoughts. I learned so much about him in that one little week. 

I learned that he had a little sister named Ame’li who he loved and doted on dearly. I learned that his favorite color was, lo and behold, blue. I learned that he could speak like, twenty different human languages, and all of the languages of the other races. I learned that he didn’t grow up with both of his parents because they split up before he was born; he spent a cumulative half of his life with his mother learning about manners and etiquette and the other half with his father learning about the responsibilities of the king.   

But I also learned more about his personality as well. He was funny and charming and hell of awkward. He was a picky eater—though I noticed he would always eat anything I gave him, even if he did make a nasty face about it—and was a bit of a neatfreak. He also loved to play human videogames and watch human TV. He drooled a little bit in his sleep, and he liked to cuddle. A lot. He was really touchy feely, which was why he jumped me so often in the beginning. It was his weird form of courting. He also had a weird sense of humor, and his laugh—his real laugh, straight from the belly—was so weird and loud that it was infectious. 

At that moment, with these thoughts running through my mind, I came to the realization that I was in love with Rhao. Call me crazy—oh god I hate that song—but even though we’ve known each other for less than a full month, I was falling for Rhao hard. It was impossible not to love him. He was just so quirky and adorable.   

“Eyami.” He said softly, causing me to look up at him. His eyes were soft as he gazed down at me and he was rubbing small circles with his thumbs on my back. “What are you thinking about?”

“You, actually.” I shrugged, putting my chin on his chest. He arched a brow. 

“Oh? Do tell.”

I smiled up at him. “I love you, Rhao.”

He froze. Like, seriously froze. If it wasn’t for his heartbeat suddenly pounding rapidly against my chin, I’d of thought he died all of a sudden or something. He wasn’t breathing and his thumbs had stopped moving on my back. His eyes stayed locked with mines. My smile dropped into a frown. 

“Rhao?”

“Say it again.” He breathed. 

“What?”

His arms tightened around my waist, lifting me off the ground and bringing me to his eye level. “What you just said. Say it again.”

My head tilted to the side. “I love you?”

A boyish smile broke out across his face. “Again, again. Say it again.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I love you, Rhao Y’mei.”

“Again.”

“I love you.”

“Again.”

“I love you.”

“Again.”

I arched a brow. “No.”

“Please?”

“You heard me the first time.”

“Yes, but I want you to say to me forever and ever, until the day we die.”

I arched a brow. “I’ll make a deal with you.”

His eyes narrowed. “What?”

“I’ll say it once a day.”

“Five times a day.”

“Twice a day, in the morning and night.”

He growled. “Fine, deal.”

“Great, now put me down.”

“Put you down?” He scoffed. “You think you can escape me now, after making that declaration? I was playing around earlier, but now I’m really going to have you in my bed.”

My jaw dropped. “But—.”

“No buts. Well…” He smirked, turning around and heading for his room. “I’ll have your butt.”

Oh yeah, that was another thing. He’s corny as hell. 

“I refuse to have sex with you, Rhao.”

“Rejection denied!” He threw me down on his huge bed and crawled on top of me, grinning goofily. 

“Objection!” I yelled, trying to push him off me. 

“Overruled.” He smirked. 

“On what terms?”

His smirk widened. “The law of nature. We have to have sex to fully become mates. We’ve only recognized each other as mates, but for the bond between us to form, we gotta bump uglies.”

“Oh fuck.”

“Exactly.” He chuckled, then leaned down to kiss me.


	10. I Love You

WARNING!! Nuff said right?  
_____________________________

For all the fighting I had done, I gave under Rhao's touch easily. Maybe it was because of my revelation, realizing that I was in love with him. Or maybe because I had already been giving into him earlier, making this attempt much easier for him. Or maybe it was even a combination of both.

It didn't really matter much, because Rhao was doing things with his tongue that was slowly turning my mind, and body, to goo. I could no longer think coherently, which made me glad he was occupying my mouth because I was pretty sure I would've been blubbering out insane things if ny mouth was otherwise free.

His hands slid up my body, his palms hot as they dragged across my skin. A moan passed my lips as I arched upwards, into his palms and Rhao swallowed the noise with a soft chuckle. He pulled away and I blinked up at him, panting lightly.

"W-what?"

He chuckled again. "No, you're just beautiful."

I flushed. "Rhao, I am far from beautiful."

"You're right, sorry." He arched a brow. "You're also cute, sexy as hell, adorable, hot--."

"Okay Rhao, jeez I get it." I snapped, my cheeks heating.

"I don't think you do." His brow furrowed, his expression suddenly becoming serious. "Brandon, you mean the fucking world to me. Everything about is just...fucking amazing. The sight of you allows me to breathe. Your laugh, your smile, is my food and water. Every beat of your heart is one of mines. Without you, I am nothing."

"Rhao..." I breathed, my eyes wide with disbelief.

I didn't know he felt like this...that he was holdng all this back. I mean, he was just so playful all the time. I knew he felt strongly for me, it was kind of hard not to notice, bit this...this was different. This was him showing me his real side. And truth be told...it was kinda hot. Not that I was going to interrupt his litte--I don't know, speech--but I cetainly wanted to. I blinked when he chuckled, though there was no humor in his tone, and shook his head.

"Before I met you, I never thought feeling for someone this strongly was possible. I used to make fun of people who were mated, laughing at how idiotic they looked giving themselves so completely to someone else. At one point, I didn't even want to find my mate. I didn't want to be like them. But I grew out of it, and a damn good thing I did too because I don't even know how I survived before without you." He took a shaky breath. "When you told me you loved me...Brandon I swear if I died right then and there, I would've died the happiest man in the world."

My brow rose and I smiled lightly, reaching up to cup his cheek. " I love you, Rhao, but I don't want you dying on me."

His laugh this time was full of amusement. "I don't want to die either. Especially since I just got you. I expect to live a damn long time with you in my life."

I snorted out a laugh, then flushed and quickly covered my mouth at the sound. I hated it when I laugh and snort at the same time, it was such an embarrassing sound. Rhao smirked and pulled my hand away from my mouth, leaning down to peck my lips.

"Don't hide the sounds you make, eyami." He murmured against my lips. "I want to hear each and every sound that passes those beautiful lips of yours."

My face heated and I was sure I was as red as a tomato. The way he said it implied something else. He stroked my cheek and I felt his lips stretch into a smile against mine.

"You're blushing."

"I always blush around you." I grumbled.

"And what a beautiful thing it is." He applied pressure to my lips as he kissed me again.

His hands returned to my torso and he gently stroked the skin along the 'V' shape my hips made, the movement burning me with each swipe. I let him deepen the kiss, reaching up to wrapped my arms around his neck as my eyes fluttered close. A strong shot of pleasure went through my body as his tongue curled against mine and I moaned into his mouth.

He pulled away from my mouth, moving down to press kisses to my jaw and neck. I jerked and moaned when I felt his teeth drag across my skin, and he grabbed me through my jeans. My hips pressed into his hand as my grip tightened, pulling him closer to me. His other hand was still on my skin and it was there that he reached up to tease my nipples mercilessly.

My senses were overloaded. I didn't know what to do about the pleasure that was shuddering through me and I was slack as a result, letting Rhao do whatever he wanted to my body. It was never, ever like this with any girl I'd ever been with. Neither of us had even lost any clothes yet, and it was still bettee than any girl I'd been with. I didn't know if it was because we were mates, or because Rhao was taking over when I had to be the one in control, or simply because it was Rhao himself, but it was all amazing.

I didn't notice when he took my pants and underwear off. It wasn't until his lips disappeared from my neck and wrapped around my shaft, causing my to arch upwards with a loud cry, did I even realize what he had done. I looked down at him in surprise and found him already looking at me, his dark purple eyes glittering as his head bobbed up and down. I swallowed hard and fell back on the bed.

God, he looked fucking hot doing that. The sight sent rushes of heat through my body. No girl ever looked that sexy giving me head. In fact, no girl ever gave me fellatio this fucking great. Fuck, I'm going to cum.

"R-Rhao..." I tugged on his hair. "Let go...I'm gonna..."

But he only sucked harder, making me moan louder. He also moaned, the vibrations coming from his mouth around me sending me over the edge. My back bowed and my body strained upwards as I pushed as far as I could into Rhao's mouth. I didn't do it purposely, but my body craved for more of the wet heat of his mouth.

The high I reached was spectacular. It took me a long time to come down from it, but once I did I looked up at Rhao. He was sitting up between my legs smirking at me, his shirt missing and his pants unbuttoned. I swallowed at the sight of his bare chest and torso, his muscles flexing easily under his pale gold skin. He arched a brow.

"Like what you see?"

I licked my lips and nodded. "Yeah...I do."

He chuckled. "Good."

Then he dropped in between my legs again. I was curious about what he was doing, until a certain feeling in my...lower regions...made me tense up.

"Rhao what are you doing?!"

"Brandon..." He sat up slightly, his hands around my thighs lifting them into the air. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do." I said immediately, with no hesitation.

His fingers slowly caressed the skin on my thighs. "Then trust me on this, okay? Relax for me, eyami."

I nodded slowly and he smiled, his head dropping. His tongue touched my...my hole, and I closed my eyes, focusing on forcing my muscles to relax. My body eventually was pliant and by that point, his touch was sending bolts of pleasure through me once again. I got used to the feeling of his tongue inside me and my hips moved with each little nudge he gave me.

Eventually he stopped and sat up, looking down at me smugly. I was a panting mess by that point, as I had gotten so used to his tongue inside me that all the uncomfortable things I felt was overwhelmed by pleasure.

He moved away and I watched as he crawled across his bed to his end table. His brow furrowed as he dug around in the drawer, and then cleared as he pulled something out. I blinked at the little tube in his hand, then arched a brow.

"When did you buy that?"

"Yesterday, when you were asleep."

"What?" I sat up. "How the hell were you to know that we were going to have sex today?"

He smirked, moving across the bed back to me and taking my hand in his unoccupied one. "I didn't know we were going to have sex today, eyami, I just knew it was going to be soon. Your shadow demon would've made sure of that."

"Oh..." I dropped my head, looking at him from under my lashes. "...No condoms, then?"

"What for? We don't need them." He snorted. "You aren't going to get pregnant or anything like that, and I would assume you don't have that human SPD thingy."

"It's called an STD and no I don't have it." I rolled my eyes and he grinned.

"Then what's the problem?"

I shifted. "Well I've...never had sex without a condom before "

He arched a brow. "You've never had sex with a man before either."

"Well, yeah..."

"Brandon..." He leaned down and kissed me gently. "You have nothing to worry about, okay? Leave it sl to me, and I will make you feel amazing."

I took a shaky breath and nodded. "Okay, Rhao. I trust you."

He chuckled and kissed me again, his hand on my chest pushing me down to the mattress. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he shifted between my legs. There was the clacking sound of the bottle of lube being opened, but when I tried to pull away and look, Rhao just kissed me harder to distract me. His hand disappeared from my chest and he shifted around, still kissing me.

Suddenly, there was a slick pressure against my hole and I shifted, once again forcing my body to relax. Rhao smiled against my lips, murmuring something in his language, and pushed his fingers inside me.

I accidentally bit his lip in surprise at the burning sensation I felt. It was weird, because the burn felt good yet hurt at the same time. The sharp burst of his blood on my tongue helped distract me.

Rhao continued to murmur things against my lips, occasionally applying pressure every time I winced at the burning. His fingers moved slowly but surely inside me, curling every once in a while and causing my pleasure to spike. Then, when I was finally getting used to the feeling and the pain was disappearing and my pleasure increased, Rhao pushed particularly deeply and hit something that made my entire body spasm and a wail to rip out of my mouth.

"There it is." He whispered, doing it again.

"W-what...is...that?" I panted out, my body moving on its own as pushed down on Rhao's fingers.

"You're prostate, eyami. Feel good?"

"F-feels great." My body arched further upwards into Rhao's.

Then his fingers disappeared. I whined, not liking the empty feeling he left. But Rhao merely smirked as he sat up and took off his pants. I swallowed hard as his cock came into view. It was thick and long and so hard that it twitched with each rush of blood. Rhao chuckled knowingly, grabbing my legs and putting them on his shoulders. He looked at me, his mussed up hair falling seductively into his eyes.

"You ready?"

My eyes widened as I felt something much larger than his fingers nudge my entrance. But instead of chickening out like I half-wanted to, I swallowed hard and nodded. He held my gaze for a moment, searching for something, probably doubt, in my eyes, my face. But I didn't doubt him in the least, and once he realized this, he nodded once and his eyes flicked downwards.

When I felt him begin to push in, I immediately took a deep breath and relaxed again. It hurt a lot more than it did when he used his fingers. I squeezed my eyes shut and panted lightly around the pain. There was no pleasure to ease it away. I felt like I was being slowly ripped in half.

He moved so slowly, probably trying not to hurt me, but dammit if I wished he would just push it in all at once. Then I could briefly tolerate the excruciating pain I would feel instead of this never ended burning that I was feeling. But I knew that if he did that, I would definitely feel if in the morning. So I kept quiet and bit my lip, taking the pain.

Soon, he was buried to the hilt. I watched his muscles quiver and his head tilt back, eyes closing in bliss. I did not feel the same pleasure as he did, but I was hoping that it would reappear once I got used to the feeling of him inside me.

His eyes opened as his head lolled to the side, gaze on me.

~oOo~

Rhao

Okay. Okay. I have to be still. No moving. I couldn't move until Brandon was ready lest I hurt him, and I knew he wasn't ready because his muscles were randomly clenching around me. And fuck it all if that wasn't torture.

I could so die right now, buried in his silky tight warmth, and be the happiest man alive. And I know I said that earlier when he told me that he loved me, but being inside of him, finally able to truly connect as mates, was the best feeling ever.

My head had tilted back as I entered Brandon, but now I pulled my head up and gave him a wide, lazy grin. He had looked hesitant at first, but seeing me smile caused his swollen red lips to stretch and his face to light up. He was so fucking beautiful. And all mine. I wanted to move badly but I had to wait until he was ready. Until he gave me a signal.

So instead, I did what I could always do. I leaned down and kissed him silly.

As what always happened when I kissed Brandon, half of my brain melted at the touch of his soft, plump lips and the explosion of his taste on my tongue. He tasted like vanilla and blueberries. I briefly wondered if it was a coincidence that blueberries had always been my favorite fruit since I was a brat. But the rest of my mind melted when Brandon let out a soft moan and wrapped his arms around my neck, his legs around my waist, and arched his body up into mine. That would be my cue.

I first gave a shallow thrust, just to test to see if he was really ready. And when he only moaned and rolled his hips upwards to meet mine, I grinned victoriously and pushed deeper into him. His body shuddered beneath me and his grip moved from around my neck to each of his hands holding onto my shoulders, his nails digging into my skin. It didn't hurt, merely increased my pleasure, and I growled low, ducking down to kiss him hard. He responded eagerly, keening and arching his body upwards as I fucked his mouth with my tongue at the same pace as I pushed into him.

Then I stilled, buried inside of him, and pulled away to look down at him. His body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and his hair was plastered to his forehead. His lips were parted slightly as he panted and his pupils were so dilated that I couldn't even tell the difference between them and the dark blue-black of his irises. He looked up at me, a whine in his throat.

"Rhao, why'd you stop?"  His voice was so rough that I almost couldn't recognize it. I couldn't wait until his shadow demon surfaced and his voice matured. Then I'd be able to hear its full potential.

"Tell me, Brandon."

His face scrunched up. "What? What do you want? Stop torturing me like this, seriously. Move."

"Tell me what I want to hear, eyami."

He had a blank expression for a moment. Then, realization lit in his eyes and he scowled at me.

"Really, Rhao?"

"Yup." I canted forward slightly and he hitched a breath. "Better say it."

" Ugh." He glared up at me. "I love you."

I smiled down at him. "Good doggie."

Before he could respond, I pulled out till only my head was breaching his hole and then pushed back in quickly to the hilt. He choked, his head flying back as his entire body strained upwards. His hands reached out to grab my sheets into his fists and he writhed uncontrollably as I did it again. On the third try, he finally did what I wanted which was wail loudly like he did earlier. It was so beautiful watching him come apart. He began to roll his hips, unconsciously fucking himself on my cock, which gave me an idea.

Leaning forward, I grabbed his hips and flipped us over so that I was spread out on the sheets and he was straddling me. His head fell back with a loud moan as gravity did it's job and pushed me deeper inside him than either of us could try. I grimaced as I tried not to thrust upwards, letting him get used to the new position.

After a moment, he put his hands on my chest, looking at me as he bit his lip, and tentatively lifted his hips. We moaned together as he slowly slid down in me and my hands shot out to tightly grip his hips. My head rose and I watched in awe as Brandon fucked himself on my cock. It was certainly a sight to see.

He was still biting his lip which only served to make it redder. His cheeks were flushed and his skin shone pale white like one large diamond. As he moved his hips, the muscles of his abdomen and biceps contracted smoothly and effortlessly. He must've been strong for a human. It made me want to know how strong he was as a shadow demon.

"O-oh...f-f-fuuuuck..." He suddenly moaned out loudly. "R-Rhao I'm...I'm gonna--..."

His entire body shuddered and his muscles clamped down on me as he came all over my chest. I reactively thrust up into him and he whimpered lightly, his fingers digging into my chest.

I came almost immediately after he did, the sensation of him spasming around me too much to handle. My grip on his hips tightened as I exploded, my body arching up as I tried to bury myself as deeply into his heat as I could. A groan left my lips as he milked me through my orgasm.

When we both finished, Brandon collapsed onto my chest and stayed there. He was probably exhausted. I wrapped my arms around him, not caring if we were both sticky and would probably wake up uncomfortable in the morning. His heartbeat pounded against my chest, beating in tandem to mine, and I smiled.

It was the truth when I told him that every one of his heartbeats was one of mine. Well, it was true now since we've fully mated. Our hearts, our souls, were now connected forever.  Each of his heartbeats goaded my heart to respond. Whenever his heart sped up, so would mine. Whenever his heart slowed, so would mine. Whenever his heart stopped...well, so would mine.

"Eyami?"

He twitched. "Hrmffgh?"

I smiled, reaching up to caress his cheek. "I love you."

"Nnng." He shifted, wiggling upwards. I winced as the movement caused me to slid out of him, but it was made up as soon as his lips pressed against mine.

But soon as I went to respond, his lips suddenly went slack. I blinked when a loud snore caused his mouth to vibrate. He fell asleep. While kissing me. I laughed softly and maneuvered him so that he was lying at my side with his body pressed against mine, his head pillowed on my chest. He murmured softly and wrapped his arm around my waist, hugging me to him. I smiled and kissed his forehead.

"Night, eyami. _"_


	11. Apology Turned Disaster

Freddie and I finally reconciled, at least partially since we didn't talk about what happened, the next day at school. Mostly because I was pissed at Rhao.

The idiot had thought it was a good idea to wake me up in the middle of the night for another round of sex. I had no fighting chance against it because by the time I'd woken up and realized what he was doing, I was already hard as a rock and he was already preparing me for round two.

Now see, round two wasn't that bad. I had been able to fall back asleep almost right afterwards. I'd woken up a few hours later with some pain but nothing I couldn't handle. It was round three  _and_ four in the shower that not only almost caused us to be late, but also caused me to be sore in places I didn't even know I had.  _Both_ times I had told Rhao a blatant no. And yet wht does he do? He shoves it right in!

So now I was in pain and pissed at Rhao. I tried to ignore him earlier, but it didn't work since I had borrow  _his_ clothes--well, more like a shirt because his pants were way too baggy on me--and he had to take me to school. Well, that wasn't much different we have a tendency to apparently piss each other off right before we get in the car together. I can count on one hand the amount of times me and Rhao were in the car together and the atmosphere was amicable.

But when we got to school, it was a different matter. He pulled into his spot--might as well call it his because he  _always_ parked here and no one dared to take the spot--and turned towards me.

"Brandon what are you so mad about? You clearly enjoyed yourself." He frowned.

I shot him a glare. "That's not point. I told you no and yet you still did it anyway, Rhao. Now I'm in pain. And I'm pissed at you. Leave me alone for right now."

As soon as I got out the car, I located Frederick and attached myself to his side. No explanation was needed, because Freddie was just that fucking great. Rhao wasn't too happy though. He left it alone, however, because he knew exactly why I was mad at him.

"Brandon."

I glanced away from glaring at Rhao, up at Freddie. He had an amused but uncomfortable look on his face. I arched a brow.

"Yeah?"

"I know you're pissed at Rhao, but there's not really a need to cling to me, is there?"

"Of course there is." I held his arm tighter. "If I let go, Rhao will take the opportunity to sneak up behind me and kidnap me and force an apology on me."

He snorted. "You're going to have let me go in a few minutes anyway, because we don't share any classe--don't freak out!"

"Oh my god, I can't help it!" I let him go and began to flap my hands in panic. "He's gonna kidnap me soon as passing period comes. He's gonna drag me into the bathroom and--"

I was cut off by Frederick's hand over my mouth.

"That's not going to happen, Brandon." He said calmly.

His hand was still over my mouth so when I tried to speak, my words came out muffled. I glared at him, but he was unfazed and didn't move his hand. He arched a brow.

"I won't move my hand until you calm down and realize Rhao's not going to...kidnap you."

I huffed angrily, but complied. He really waited until I had closed my eyed and took deep breaths as I forced myself to relax before he moved his hand away from his mouth. I pouted a him, but he merely arched a brow. My pout turned into a scowl.

"He's so gonna kidnap me and you don't care."

"I do too care." He rolled his eyes and then looked at something over my shoulder.

Following his gaze, I turned and saw Eoin and Beni making their way towards us. I think Rhao had told me they were cousins or something. They didn't have any similarities though. Beni waved at us when she noticed us looking with a wide smile, but Eoin was frowning.

"What are you two doing?" He said when the got closer.

Freddie jerked a thumb at me. "He's being an idiot, as per usual."

"I am not." I snapped at him with a glare. "I'm telling you, Freddie, he's going to kidnap me!"

"Who?" Beni asked, cocking her head to he side.

I looked down at her. "Rhao."

She blinked. "Rhao? Why's he trying to kidnap you, Brandon?"

"Because I'm angry with him." I crossed my arms.

"Ah." She nodded, her expression understanding. "He's gonna try and force an apology on you, then."

"Finally!" I threw my hands in the air. "Someone who understands."

Frederick snorted. "I highly doubt Rhao really is going to kidnap you, Brandon."

Beni scoffed. "Then you underestimate just how childish Rhao is. He's like a pouting child when it comes to things like this."

I nodded. "Oh yeah. And when the pout doesn't work..."

"Full blown temper tantrum." Eoin added his two cents with a smirk.

The bell rung and I jumped, going back to clinging on Freddie. He scowled down at me and tried to shake me off, but I held on tightly. Beni giggled and put her hand on my arm.

"You can stick with me, Brandon. We have all the same periods except for the one before lunch."

I smiled at her gratefully and let go off Freddie's arm in favor of hers. It felt weird holding onto someone so much smaller than me like this, but it didn't bother me too much because I knew that Beni was strong enough to put me on my ass without breaking a sweat. And so we went of to class like that. We got a lot of weird looks on the way though.

When we entered the class, she took the seat next to me--where Rick and then Rhao used to sit--and smiled sweetly at Rhao when he glared at the two of us. I swallowed hard and stared ahead, trying to ignore the holes Rhao was trying to drill into my head and also the throbbing pain coming from my lower back. There was this class, homeroom, and then first period. After that, I didn't have to see Rhao until lunch.

Unfortunately, however, that was when he caught me.

Beni had apologized to me when we had to separate for our different periods, but I was thankful because at least she walked me to class. I had no doubt that Rhao would've taken the chance to sneak behind me and drag me off to the bathroom during the passing period if I was by myself.

As is, that's precisely what he did when I was on my way to the cafeteria. I didn't know what class he had, so I'd been expecting him to be waiting for me in front of the cafeteria to whisk me away or something like that. It was stupid of me, but I should've expected him to grab me from behind and pull me into the bathroom. It happened so fast that I couldn't even react until he'd already locked the door and sat me down on the counter, opening my leg so he could step in between them and press himself against me. I winced as a shot of pain from my lower back shot up my spine.

"Rhao! Let me go." I put my hands on his chest and pushed. Of course, he didn't budge.

"Not until you accept my apology,  _eyami_ _."_ He hummed as he pushed his face into he crook of my neck.

Before I could respond, there was a banging on the door, catching both of our attention. My eyes widened and I smiled as Eoin's voice came through.

"Brandon? Rhao? Is everything okay?"

"No! Save m--"

"Everything is fine!"

I glared at Rhao as his voice took over mines and prevented Eoin from hearing what I was going to say. He smirked at me in return. Eoin spoke again.

"You sure?" He sounded indecisive. Maybe he was remembering me freaking out this morning.

"I said it was, didn't I?" Rhao said, a subtle threat in his voice.

Eoin paused briefly. "...Very well. I will tell the others where you are should they ask."

"Okay!"

Then there was silence. I was pretty sure Eoin had left. I was doomed.

Rhao grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Now, we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way. The choice is yours,  _eyami_ _,_ but one way or another you are accepting my apology."

I glared at him. "Do you even  _know_ what you're apologizing for?"

He blinked slowly and I scoffed at him. He frowned, a crease appearing between his brows and my eyes widened. Uh oh. He was going to have a temper tantrum.

"Brandon, come on why do you have to be like this?" He said vehemently. "I mean, seriously...You're acting like a girl right now."

My eye twitched. "Oh, am I?"

His eyes widened at the rasp in my voice and he tried to save himself. "I mean...I did  _not_  mean that,  _eyami_ _."_

"Why do I get the feeling that I shouldn't believe you?"

"Uh..."

I grit my teeth. "You like pissing me off, don't you? I mean, it's the very first thing you did when we met."

He swallowed. "Calm down, Brandon."

"Calm down?" I scoffed. "I  _am_ calm."

"Right...um...how about that apology?"

"I have yet to hear you actually try to apologize to me, Rhao." I glared at him. "And you  _still_ don't know what you're apologizing about."

When he merely blinked at me with a dumbfounded expression, I sighed and sagged against the mirror behind me. While he did look apologetic, I couldn't just forgive him without him knowing what he did.

"Rhao...I said no and you didn't listen." I shook my head. "It might seem silly to be angry about that, but think about it from my point of view. How can I trust you if you won't even stop when I ask you to?"

His eyes widened with surprise, and then narrowed with anger. "You don't _trust_ me?"

"I  _did."_

He pushed away from me and took a few steps backwards. "I can't believe this. You lost trust in me because I made you have sex with me?"

This escalated way too quickly. But there was no going back now. I really starting to really get pissed, beyond how I was feeling earlier.

" _After_ I said no.  _Both_ times. Do you know what that sounds like, Rhao?" I hopped off the counter. "Sounds a lot like rape, doesn't it?"

"You're accusing me off  _raping_  you?"

I scoffed incredulously. "No, Rhao. I would never accuse you of that. I'm just telling you what it  _sounds_ like. I'm not even mad about that. I'm mad because you don't  _listen_ to me when you want  _your_ way. You've done that since day one."

"Bullshit." He spat.

"Oh  _really?"_ I advanced towards him and poked him in the chest, ignoring the bell as it rang. "So you  _didn't_  force yourself on me in the halls the first day we met? And you  _didn't_ proceed to do the same thing almost everyday afterwards? You  _didn't_  force me to ride in your car to school almost everyday? You  _didn't_  forcibly carry me away from Rick the day I caught him and Tiffany. I was clearly calmed down and yet you _still_  had to go hauling me around."

"What? Brandon, you--."

"It's aggravating. I usually let it go, but goddammit Rhao this morning was too fucking far. So no, I  _don't_ trust you anymore. Not right now. Not while I can't sit down without feeling a bunch of pain." I licked my lips. "I mean, did you even  _consider_ the fact that I'd just had my first time not but a few hours before you decided to go sex crazy? Or did you just not care?"

His eyes widened, but he didn't respond. My eyes burned and I clenched my jaw, dropping my head.

"You just...didn't care...did you?"

"Brandon--" He reached out to grab me, but I quickly pulled away from him.

"Don't touch me!" I moved towards the door. "I just...I can't be near you right now. I need to go."

Before he could respond, I unlocked the door and ran out the bathroom. Almost immediately, I crashed into Freddie. He grabbed my arms to keep me from falling and looked down at me in concern.

"Brandon? You okay?"

"Take me out of here." I begged him. "Please. I don't have my car...Please, Freddie."

"Okay, okay. I got you." He glanced at Beni and Eoin, who were standing next to him. "Are you guys coming with?"

"Of course we are." Beni said, coming around to grab my hand. "It's okay, Brandon. Whatever it is, it'll be okay."

"Thanks guys." I whispered.

**This chapter did** _**not** _ **go in the direction it was supposed to. But that's okay :)**   
**  
**


	12. Separation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a long time and truthfully I don't have much of an excuse. Mostly just didn't have the...urge to write for this particular story I guess. Sorry though, and thank fuck to those who still read this lol

_**Rhao** _

I paced back and forth, ignoring the headache that was building from thinking so hard about what happened, and the hollowed pain I felt from seeing Brandon leave looking so distraught...and knowing that I was the cause of his stress.

After Brandon left with Eoin, Beni, and Frederick, I called up everyone else and had them meet me at my place. I didn't understand what the fuck I did wrong, but no matter what the problem was, I was going to fucking beg for forgiveness if I had to. I wasn't going to lose Brandon after just getting him. Which was why I had called up everyone. They would help me figure out what the hell I needed to do.

"I think the best way to go about it would be to be blunt and straight forward, your Highness." Mirimele said softly. She was such a quiet girl, but a formidable opponent and fiercely loyal.

Amerasu, one of my best fighters and a brilliant strategist, snorted. "Blunt? Brandon is in a sensitive state right now. He's a shadow demon, your Highness, so your best bet is to do something that will impress him,  _then_ apologize once he's calmed down and gotten comfortable."

"I don't think so." Hunen said with a contemplative frown. He and Lin were my rocks, my pillars of support. "This  _is_ Brandon we're talking about. He's very awkward about things. Maybe you should keep it simple and plain, but thoughtful."

"I second that!" Lin joined in.

Visara, as I had expected her to, stayed quiet and glared at the wall behind me with her arms crossed.

I sighed and stopped pacing, putting my hand on my hip and pushing my other hand through my hair. Those all sounded like good ideas. But what would Brandon really like?

...Probably for me to leave him the fuck alone. He more than likely doesn't want to see me.

But this guilt I feel is fucking eating me alive. I need to feel him in my arms. I need to hold him, comfort him. Fuck it all, I need  _him._

Dammit, how the hell did I fuck up so badly?!

"Shit!" I whirled around and punched the wall behind me, glaring darkly at the hole my fist created.

A small hand grabbed my arm and I looked down at Amerasu. "Calm down, your Highness. You just need to sit down and think things through. Talk to Brandon, and really listen to how he feels."

"And control your anger." Lin piped up and I glared at him. He put his hands up. "Sorry, sir, but it's well known that you have anger issues."

My shoulders slumped. "Fine...Fine, I'll fucking calm down. And I'll talk to him. Okay?"

~oOo~

_**Brandon** _

"So, I called your mom and she said it was okay that you're staying the night as long as you go to school tomorrow." Came Freddie's voice, muffled because I had his blanket pulled over my head. "You  _are_ going to school tomorrow, right?"

I thought about it. There was a possibility that Rhao would be at school tomorrow, and I definitely didn't want to see him right now without my emotions being in check. Then again, he could also  _not_ go to school tomorrow. It was a fifty-fifty chance.

"I dunno, Freddie." I mumbled. "I guess it depends on how I feel tomorrow."

There was a pause, then I felt Freddie's hand land on my head. "Okay, Brandon. But will you at least tell me what happened?"

Tell him? What was I going to tell him? That I was acting foolishly? That I was angry about Rhao for such a little thing? I mean...I kind of did exaggerate a lot. I know Rhao now. I know that, truthfully, he didn't force me to do any of those things. Not with the way he hopped up to please me all the time. I knew that deep down inside, I didn't put up as much resistance as I could have. I  _couldn't_ put up that type of resistance. Not against Rhao. Not against my fucking mate. I knew that if I really meant it when I resisted against Rhao, every time I told him no or to stop, then he really would have. And so I made a big deal about it for nothing. I let my anger get the best of me. And now I felt horrible because I didn't know how to fix it.

But...Freddie would. So I sat up and pulled the blanket off of my head, looking at Freddie. I probably looked like shit right now, but I didn't care. Freddie just looked at me with compassion and warmth. Just like he always did. Even though our relationship had a little lapse, he was still there for me. I missed my friend. I needed him, someone to talk to who would understand and would help me come up with a solution. And so, I told him everything from day one, with detail about what happened and how I felt.

By the time I was done it was late, my throat was ridiculously parched, and Beni and Eoin had joined us at some point. Freddie was looking down at the floor with a contemplating expression, Beni was sitting next to me with one of my hands between both of hers with her head on my shoulder, and Eoin was sitting next to Freddie, also looking contemplative. I cleared my throat and scratched the back of my neck.

"Silly, right? I mean, I completely threw everything out of proportion for no reason."

"Well..." Beni said, "Not necessarily. You  _do_ have shadow demon blood."

I blinked. "Yeah, so? I was tested human positive."

She grinned. "But you still showed characteristics, such as your voice and your darker features even though your immediate family have lighter colors. And that was  _before_ you met Rhao."

"It's a high probability that, since you were already showing shadow demon characteristics, having contact with your mate, with Rhao, triggered some other buried things." Eoin said slowly, clearly still in his thoughts. "Even before you felt it, your blood recognized Rhao as your mate. And shadow demons are big on their mates. No matter how stoic and calm the shadow demon, when it involves their mate all rationality goes flying out the window."

Beni giggled. "Shadow demons are a bunch of drama queens, basically. Very strong, very crazy drama queens. And you, Brandon, come from the line of the strongest and craziest shadow demons of them all."

"But what does this have to do with me flipping out on Rhao?" I questioned with a frown.

"Everything." Frederick snorted. "You're a shadow demon whose bloodline is only just surfacing and with no prior knowledge of anything having to do with your heritage. Shadow demons are well aware of the fault they have when it comes to their mates. They train from a young age to have strict control of their emotions so that their not running around with insane notions circling in their heads. But you don't have this training Brandon."

"How do you know all that?" Eoin asked Freddie with a curious grin, who just shrugged and smirked in return.

Is there...something going on between those two? I was definitely pulling that out of Freddie when I worked out this shit with Rhao. But for now, I need to focus.

"So..." I cocked my head to the side. "You're telling me that it's okay that I flipped out on Rhao? That it's natual?"

"Basically, yes." Eoin said with a smirk.

"Also, so that you stop with these ridiculous thoughts going through your mind..." Beni said with an arched brow. "Brandon, Rhao literally  _cannot_ rape you or do anything against your will. It will cause him extreme physical and mental pain. He probably forgot about that in the heat of your argument, but our kind are just as insane about mates as shadow demons. Especially the royalty. Which is why Rhao came off so strongly."

I blinked as this weirdly strong sensation of relief rolled through my body. He physically  _could not_ rape me.

He'd feel horrible pain.

Which, yeah, meant that I was overreacting and all that when I yelled at him. Well...some of it was overreacting. The rest was the plain truth. He never cared about what I had to say whenever he wanted something. Of course, that was probably because he was a poncy prince spoiled little shit. But still true nonetheless.

A ringtone pulled me from my thoughts and I blinked, looking over at Eoin. He cleared his throat as he pulled his phone from his pocket. I frowned as his face paled when he looked at the caller id. He looked up at me apologetically, mouthing "It's Rhao" as he answered the phone.

"Rhao?" He asked carefully. There was a brief moment where Rhao spoke, and something that he said caused Eoin to look at me with wide eyes. "Um, okay I'll ask him right now. Hold on."

"What's he want?" I asked as soon as he put the phone on hold.

Eoin took a deep breath. "He wants to meet...And talk with you."

I blinked. He wants to talk to me? So then...why the fucking hell didn't he call me? He had to call Eoin, for what reason? If it's me he wants to speak to, then he better find the balls to fucking tell me that he wants to talk himself. I crossed my arms.

"No, I don't want to talk to him."

Freddie straightened. "Brandon, you should-."

"No." My voice was starting to get raspy. "If he wants to talk to me, then he better damn well tell me himself that he wants to talk."

"Very well." Eoin took the phone off hold. "He, um...doesn't want to talk to you if you're not the one asking yourself."

Rhao must've yelling, because the phone buzzed with the loudness of his voice, and Eoin winced.

"He doesn't want to fucking talk to you." Eoin suddenly snapped. "Not with the way you're going about it, you imbecile. Don't get mad at me because your stupid plan failed."

He snapped the phone shut and threw it on the bed with a look of disgust. Me and Freddie gaped at him. I mean...Rhao was prince. How could you talk so carelessly to him like that?

I didn't realize that I had voiced my thoughts aloud until Beni giggled and Eoin rolled eyes. My cheeks heated but I cleared my throat and ignored it.

"Well? Are you going to answer my question?"

Beni burst into another fit of laughter when Eoin snorted and stood, walking towards the door.

"You can tell him, Beni. I refuse to go back to those times. Frederick?"

At his name, Freddie looked up and stood, shooting me a sympathetic glance before following after Eoin. I arched a brow. Wonder what's up with those two?

"About Rhao and Eoin," Beni said, finally managing to calm down. "I guess the easiest way to say it is that Eoin is Rhao's...advisor. Well it's more than that, but it's really complex and that's the simplest way to explain it. Everyone of the Royal brood has one, chosen from birth. An advisor is raised from childhood to efficiently and effectively be everything their Royal needs them to be."

I snorted. "Sounds a lot like being a slave."

Beni shrugged. "It does. Because of that, Eoin has always resented Rhao. And Rhao is such a dick that he doesn't try to fix their relationship. I'm sorry, Brandon, but you really got mated to a spoiled asshole."

"I know." I groaned, rubbing my cheek.

A contemplative look came over Beni's expression. "It's curious, though."

"What is?"

She frowned. "Well, the typical shadow demon has two or even three mates, to help ground them. That's why not many Angulus Humanaes are mated to shadow demons. But you...you seem to only have Rhao."

"Oh." I looked down slowly and bit my lip. "Well, maybe it's because I'm only a little bit of shadow demon?"

"That's a possibility, but your shadow demon has been manifesting rapidly since you mated to Rhao." Beni shook her head and stood. "I'll go ask Eoin and Freddie. Those two are fucking geniuses. You get some sleep, okay? You've had a long day."

I nodded. "That's no problem. I'm exhausted."

"Thought so." She smiled and kissed my forehead. "Goodnight Brandon."

"Night, Beni."

She left, closing the door softly, and I fell back on the bed. Man, I was exhausted. But I had too many thoughts on my mind. The thought of possibly having another mate. Rhao not physically being able to rape me. Rhao wanting to talk to me. Missing Rhao...

I missed him so much already. I didn't want to be away from him a second longer. It  _hurts._ A lot. Not because we weren't together, per se, but because of the way we parted. I could...I could  _feel_ how he was feeling. He was confused and hurt and angry. I didn't like that.

_Brandon..._

"Oh great. The voice that either belongs to a real person or is a sign of me going crazy."

_Ha...you're adorable._

"Please, flattery will get you nowhere."

_I beg to differ. However, that's not why I'm here. You really do need to get your sleep. Something big is going to happen, soon, and you need to be at your best. Don't worry, though. I'm on my way._

"Yeah, that makes me feel  _so_ much better."

_Sarcasm. How wonderful._

"Like you can talk." I snorted.

And that's basically how it went until I fell asleep. Me bantering with the random voice in my head. God, maybe I am going crazy.


	13. Desperate Measures Taken

HUGE WARNING: This entire chapter is pretty much all feels. Brandon is acting very OUT OF CHARACTER because of everything going on. It's kind of really emotional and I had a hard time writing it, hence the super late update that should've been longer but is going to have to be in another chapter.

Smaller warning: Attempted suicide. If you don't want to read

about it then stop at the part where Brandon comes downstairs and jump down to the beginning of Rhao's POV.

~oOo~

Frederick

I jumped in surprise when I felt thin but strong arms wrap around my waist, but immediately relaxed when Eoin pressed his familiar form against my back. He didn't say anything, just laid his head between my shoulder blades, and so I continued on flipping through one of my many books on the supernatural.

Ever since Beni came to me the other day with her concerns on why it seemed like Brandon only had one mate, Rhao, I've been digging into what I could about shadow demons. Eoin has been helping me search, but he didn't have the same perseverance I did and often took long breaks where he would cuddle up to me like how he was now.

From what I read so far, a shadow demon always had multiple mates to ground them. They're mates were apparently how they determined rankings too; the stronger the shadow demon, the more mates he or she would need to ground them. Brandon's blood was so diluted that he shouldn't even have a mate, so the simple fact that he was mates was a prince hinted to how powerful he would've been if he were a fullblooded shadow demon. I wasn't surprised by that, however, as Eoin constantly tells me how powerful Brandon's lineage is. In fact, I just recently found out that his great uncle or whatever is the sole bodyguard of Rhao's father, the King. Talk about responsiblities.

Anyway, I was forty percent sure Brandon had another mate. He wasn't grounded, hence why he was so anal about Rhao and the poncy prince's spoiled behaviors. A second mate was needed, someone pretty much opposite to Rhao, to set a sort of balance or else Brandon would completely lose his shit. He was already depressed because he hadn't seen Rhao in three days, and if he didn't find his second mate soon then he'd fall apart. Made me damn glad I had Eoin, even though there was still a niggling in the back of my head telling me that he deserved someone so much better than me.

When Eoin told me that I was his mate, I was shocked and very skeptical. I mean, what chances were there that both Brandon and I ended up being mated to an angulus humanae? It was just so unlikely that at first I believed that Eoin was just fucking around, telling me we're mates for some sadistic kick. But then we began to spend time together and...well I got to know him and realized that he wasn't like that. He just didn't have that type of personality. And even though I was still a little sore about the incident with Brandon, I slowly opened myself up to Eoin.

Having a mate, someone devoted to you and only you, felt amazing. There was no need to ever feel self conscious or inferior because your mate was always right there telling you just exactly how fucking great you were. We've hardly been together for a week and already Eoin had made me feel like a better person.

There's this look Eoin gets when I go off on one of my rants about whatever topic caught my interest for the moment. It was like...this look of awe and adoration and a little shock and lust. His bright red eyes would widen attentively and he would unconsciously start twiddling with a piece of his beautiful silver hair. The first time I went off on one of my rants to him, I had to cut myself of and apologize. But he almost freaked out and pretty much forced me to keep going. I'd never had such a response before-people had a tendency to zone out-and the feeling I got when Eoin wanted me to keep going...it was amazing. He was amazing.

And that's what scared me the most.

"You're not reading anymore." Eoin said, pulling me from my thoughts, his voice muffled because his face was buried in my back.

I glanced back at him with a light smirk. "No, because I'm too busy thinking about you."

"Me?" He lifted his head and looked at me with an arched brow.

"Yes, you." I closed my book and turned around to face him. His arms moved from my waist to around my neck and I put my arms around his waist.

He gave me a mock demure look. "Oh whatever did I do?"

"Be amazingly awesome." I pecked the tip of his nose.

Said nose scrunched. "You're so cheesy. I feel like I'm in some weird romance novel."

"A great romance novel. Five stars, you know." I grinned. "I can be the Christian Grey to your Anastasia Steele."

"Oh my-" Eoin stumbled away from me with a snort. "You read that shit?"

"I read everything." I arched a brow at him. "You read it?"

He shook his head. "Oh no no no. I only know what you are referencing to because of the drivel I overhear from your peers. It's all they talk about. And for your information, I think my strength surpasses that of the fabric in a tie."

Before I could respond-I honestly was about to sit there and stutter because shit the images that popped up in my head-there was a couple of loud thumps and then Brandon appeared at the bottom of the stairs. I watched as he stared at us blankly for a moment, his eyes red and baggy and unseeing, before turning away towards the kitchen. My brow furrowed. He refused to eat, so why was he-

Eoin shot into action a second before I did. He was in the kitchen the next moment and my heart stopped at the sound of something metal clattering to the floor. I ran into the kitchen to see Eoin clutching a sobbing Brandon to his chest, a huge knife beside them on the floor.

"I'm sorry." Brandon sobbed. "I'm sorry. But it hurts. I feel empty. I want Rhao. Why are you keeping me from him?"

"Call Rhao." I mouthed to Eoin, moving forward to talk Brandon from him.

He nodded and dug out his phone from his pocket. I half carried, half dragged Brandon to the living room and sat down on the couch with him, rubbing his back as he cried into my shirt. It was so hard to tell him why we didn't let him go see Rhao, to tell him the surprise Rhao had planned for him. But I couldn't. Eoin told me Rhao's plans in confidence, and even though it hurt to see my friend like this I wasn't going to break Eoin's trust in me.

~oOo~

Rhao

I'd just made it to the top of the stairs-I was ridiculously tempted to fly up, which would take not even half the time it took climbing the stairs-and sat down this metal table thingy that Beni said Brandon would like when my phone vibrated from my pocket. I blinked and dug it, seeing Eoin's name flashing at me. My thoughts immediately turned to Brandon and I answered the phone.

"Is everything okay?" I asked immediately.

Eoin waa silent for a moment, making my heart drop. "...Not exactly. Do you think you can speed up the plans a bit? Like, do everything tonight? Because I don't think Brandon can last another day without you."

"Wh-what happened?"

He sighed. "I don't want to say. Just...have everything ready to go tonight. Even if you don't I'm still bringing him to you. And whatever you do, don't let your fucking curiosity get ahold of you and take off your crystal."

My eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Rhao will you just listen to me for once in your fucking life!" Eoin suddenly snapped, making my eyes widen. "Don't take off the fucking crystal. And you better have fucking lasso'd the fucking moon and wrapped it in pretty fucking gift wrap for all this shit."

"Duly noted."

"Good." He abruptly hung up.

I shoved my phone in my pocket and sighed, looking across the rooftop at everything I had done so far. There was still plenty left to do. I had wanted to do this by myself with my own two hands, but a bit of magic and some extra helpers were going to be needed in order to get everything done perfectly. Plus I was going to have to make some calls and speed some things up.

Dammit.

Unconsciously, I reached up and touched the small crystal attached to the chain around my neck. It had nullifying qualities that prevented me from my own feelings and also from what Brandon was feeling. I wouldn't have been able to get anything done if I had been rolling around self pity. I had one sent to Brandon as well, but Eoin told me that he has refused to wear it for reasons that are apparently still unknown. He was victim to both of our emotions, through our connection as mates, and I knew it had to be taking it's toll on him. I was worried. I wanted to go see him. Hold him in my arms and tell him everything was going to be okay.

But not yet. First, everything had to be ready.

With a sigh, I pulled my phone from my pocket and went to my contacts. Time to speed things up.

~oOo~

Brandon

Last thing I remember clearly was sitting on Freddie's bed, staring out the window. I'd just finished having a conversation with the voice in my head, but then he apparently had to leave and I was left to contemplate on whether or not I was going crazy.

I felt empty. I remember that. And...confused. I hadn't slept in roughly three or four days, and I waa exhausted. My body craved for some thing...Rhao. He wasn't there. I could feel him, but he was far away. Too far. I needed him next to me, holding me.

Everything else was fuzzy and kind of confusing. I get flashes of everything. I got up. Then I was in the kitchen. The flash of a knife. Eoin running in and grabbing me. Crying. Freddie holding me. Falling asleep.

But I was awake now and to be frank I was pretty astonished by my own actions. I honestly tried to kill myself. I was seriously in a bad way.

"Oh good, you're already up." I looked up to see Eoin smiling lightly at me from the door.

"..." I tried to speak, but I couldn't force the words out.

"Yeah, you might not want to try talking yet. You were crying pretty hard this morning and with the way your voice is, I'm pretty sure your throat is a bit closed up." Eoin moved towards me and helped me up. "We have to get you in the shower and dressed in the next hour. It's a good thing your body gave out on exhaustion this morning or else you would have been dead on your feet. I personally think you should get some more sleep, but this is a lot more important at the moment."

My brow furrowed as he helped me along to the bathroom. "What's going on?"

He hummed. "Oh, just a little surprise for you."

I leaned against the sink as he started up the shower and waited for the water to heat up. "A surprise? From who?"

"That's part of the surprise." He smirked at me. "Now, are you okay by yourself or do you need some help?"

Heat infused my cheeks and I looked away. "Yeah, I got."

"Okay." He smiled at me again. "It's going to be great, Brandon. I promise."

I shakily returned the smile. "Thank you."

He nodded then left. I huffed out a breath before carefully taking of my clothes, wincing at my protesting muscles. Steam was starting to form, but not enough to fog up the mirror and I caught a glimpse of myself before I got in the shower. I looked like utter shit. There were bags under my eyes and my hair was an absolute mess and my stomach was slightly sunk in from not eating for about four days.

My breath slightly erratic, I reached up to touch my cheek. My skin felt oily and thin, like old paper. How was I supposed to let Rhao see me like this? I was going to see him one day, soon as I could get away from Eoin and Freddie. He wouldn't want me if he saw me looking like a crack head. I couldn't be with him looking like shit. How could I allow myself to deteriorate like this? Rhao wouldn't want me like this. He would hate to see me like this.

With renewed vigor, I jumped into the shower and scrubbed all the dirt and oil that had collected in a thin layer on my skin. Then I washed my hair twice, thankful Freddie used the same shampoo I did, which I used to keep my hair nice and fluffy instead of coarse. It took me a while to thoroughly wash myself and soon Eoin was banging on the door, demanding me to get out and get dressed.

I did so quickly, drying off and wrapping the towel tightly around my waist. My skin prickled at the thought of Eoin seeing so much of my skin, but I ignored it. I was doing this for Rhao, so that I could look nice and healthy for him.

Eoin arched a brow when I opened the door. "Caught a look at yourself in the mirror didn't you? Damn vain shadow demon. Come on, your suit is in Freddie's room."

Suit? Was that a part of the surprise? I must be going somewhere formal and possibly expensive. I hope Rhao is there. I want to see him, to touch him, to hold him close to me and have him fill me.

Fingers snapped in my face, pulling me from my thoughts of Rhao. I growled lowly and glared at Eoin for daring to pull me away from my thoughts of my mate. Yet he merely rolled his eyes.

"Look here, I managed to convince Rhao to lay on the suit for half an hour every day so that his scent would be infused into the cloth by the time you wore it." Eoin snapped at me. "You do not understand how hard it is to get the spoiled little shit to do something when you're not his mate."

He kept talking but my thoughts were stuck on Rhao. He spoke to Rhao. He maybe even saw Rhao.

"You saw Rhao?" I cut Eoin off. He blinked at me.

"No, I called him."

"On a phone?" I stepped closer to him. "Let me talk to him."

Eoin sighed. "You cannot, Brandon."

My expression dropped and I growled at him, this one deeper and morw feral than the last one. "Why not?"

"Because he gave me strict instructions to not let you talk to him until it was the proper time." Eoin snapped at me, backing away from me a bit. "There, are you happy?"

I stepped back. "He doesn't...want to talk to me?"

"Brandon..." Eoin sighed and gestured to the bed. "Just get dressed okay? The suit fucking sticks of Rhao, so that should satisfy you for another thirty minutes."

"The suit." My eyes were drawn to the suit bag sitting on the bed. "Right, I'll put it on."

"Good." Eoin skirted past me to the door. "I'll leave you to get dressed. Just come on downstairs when you're done."

The minute the door closed, I jumped the suit bag. Almost reverently, I unzipped it. Rhao's scent was like a blast in my face and with a groan I buried my head in the suit jacket. I couldn't describe how his scent smelled to me at the moment, but I knew it was like heaven on Earth, like Christmas came early. Every fiber in my being wanted to just lay there and take in Rhao's scent, however I had to get dressed. There was a chance that I would see Rhao today.

It took me longer than usual to get dressed because I kept stopping to press a piece of cloth to my nose and take a deep breath of Rhao's scent. I eventually got everything on properly, and even paused to brush my hair into its usual style before making my way downstairs. Eoin and Freddie were in the kitchen, neither of them wearing suits, which was slightly confusing. Were they not going to the same place I was?

I paused at that door and watched them. Freddie had his arms wrapped around Eoin's waist and Eoin had his arms around Freddie's neck. They were giving each other small kisses, conversing and laughing lightly. I knew something was up between those two. Freddie was apparently Eoin's mate. I wonder why the kept it from me. Maybe they just didn't think about it. Maybe they didn't want to hurt me because I haven't seen my mate in four days and the last time I saw him we got into a fight. A sharp pain resonated in my chest and I cleared my throat to hide the groan of pain that almost passed my lips. If they thought I was hurt, then they might keep me here and I won't be able to potentially see Rhao.

They quickly separated and looked at me with wide eyes. No doubt they were expecting me to explode in their faces about flaunting about them being mates or something along those lines. But I didn't. If I acted out, then they might not let me outside. So instead, I smiled at them.

"Congratulations, you too." I said genuinely. "I wish you would've told me though."

Freddie was first to relax, returning my smile easily and pulling Eoin back to him. "Thanks, bud. I wasn't quite sure how you would feel if we told you after everything that's...you know, happening."

"No I understand." I shifted in anticipation. "Can we leave now?"

"Uhm..." Freddie checked his watch. "Yes we can, actually. We're right on track."

"Okay let's go." I was already heading towards the door before Freddie could even finish his sentence.

The entire car ride was spent with me fidgeting and occasionally sniffing my sleeves in the backseat, and Eoin and Freddie sharing looks in the front seat. Fortunately, the car ride didn't take too long and less than ten minutes passes before we pulled to a stop. I looked out the window, my eyes widening and my heart stopping when I saw that we were in front of Rhao's apartment complex. I knew it. They were taking me to Rhao. I was going to see my mate.

I was practically vibrating in my seat. Freddie chuckled when he opened the back door and I scrambled out. He stopped me before I could go inside and my head whipped out so that I could growl at him. He was keeping me from my mate.

"Okay, calm down, Brandon." He chuckled lightly, handing me a key card. "You need this to get access. Go all the way up to the roof, okay? Don't stop on Rhao's floor, because he's not going to be in his rooms. All the way to the roof, Brandon."

"Okay, okay, okay. "I nodded frantically. "Can I go see my mate now?"

He let me go. "Go get him."

I shot off immediately, only pausing to tap the key card against the sensor to open the doors before I was running down the hall. The elevator would take too long as I couldn't be ideal while knowing my mate was just above me, so I went for the stairs. I'd never ran faster in my life. The apartments complex was five stories tall, meaning five sets of stairs, all of which I ran until I burst through the door leading out to the roof. My eyes scanned the area, not taking in anything other than the fact that my mate was not there.

"Rhao!" I screamed as loudly as I could.

There was a chuckle behind me, one that made my entire body freeze even as my heart beat rapidly in my chest.

"Yes, eyami?"

Without even looking, I whirled around and threw my arms around his neck. He caught me easily, the feel of his arms and wings wrapping around me causing me to sigh. I shuddered and held him tighter.

"Rhao." I stood on my tippy toes and buried my face in his neck, taking a deep breath. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you as well, eyami." His arms tightened.

I pulled away just enough to be able to press my lips to his. He kissed me back immediately, easily dominating me. Moaning, I pressed closer to him. Heat licked my body and I felt myself warming up. I hadn't even noticed that I was cold. I was probably numb. But I wasn't anymore. Rhao was heating with his touch. He was consuming me, his presence taking over mine.

Groaning, I pulled away from the kiss and looked Rhao in the eyes. "I want you to take me to your rooms, and fuck me until I can't see or think straight."

Rhao growled. "You're killing me here, Brandon."

"The fuck me."

"Not yet." He swallowed and stepped back, though his arms and wings stayed around me. "I planned out a date for us. That's why I couldn't see you all this time."

"We can have a date another day." I growled. "Just fuck me."

He ran a hand through his hair. "I wanted to apologize to you, Brandon. For not listening to you and uh...apparently r-raping you."

My expression softened. "Oh Rhao. It's okay. I've had time to sit and think about it. I could've put up more resistance to really convey to you that I didn't want it. But I didn't do that because, deep down, I did want it. However thank you for doing all this for me to apologize, and for understanding the situation. Now fuck me."

"No, see it's not just that." He grabbed my hands. "You're my mate, Brandon, my everything. If I can't even put you before myself, then what kind of man am I? I love you, eyami, I want to do things right. I don't understand a lot of human customs, but I'm making an effort to learn. If you tell me to stop doing something or that I'm doing something wrong, I'm going to listen, okay?"

I smiled up at him. "I love you too, Rhao. I know you don't know everything, and I'll be happy to help you."

"Great." He smiled boyishly at me. "I made us dinner. Let's eat."

"Rhao." I whined, my smile dropping into a pout.

His eyes widened. "What is it?"

"I want you to fuck me."

"Oh." He smirked at me. "That comes afterwards. Believe me, you're going to want to eat and get some energy."


End file.
